President Zelensky Chooses To Use Diplomacy To Restore Crimea To Ukraine

President Zelensky visited Ukrainian troops on the front lines. (Source: President.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia captured in 2014, should be returned to Ukraine diplomatically, instead of using weapons.

President Zelensky said in an interview with Fox News while boarding a train in Ukraine and broadcast Wednesday that his country did not want to lose the many lives it needed to reclaim Crimea by military means.

"I have said we are ready to bring back Crimea diplomatically," President Zelensky said.

"We can't spend tens of thousands of our people so they decay for Crimea's sake back and still not a fact, we can bring it back with weapons in our hands. We understand Crimea can be brought back diplomatically," he explained.

Furthermore, President Zelensky again rejected the idea of handing over the territory occupied by Moscow forces, saying Ukraine "cannot legally recognize occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian territory."

Russia seized and annexed Crimea in 2014, after a popular uprising prompted a pro-Russian president to leave the country and Russia's proxies seized large parts of territory in eastern Ukraine.

Since Russia's massive invasion in February 2022, its troops have seized about a fifth of Ukraine's territory and announced annexation of four provinces, although Moscow has not fully controlled any of these provinces.

President Zelensky has proposed a peace formula and a " winning plan" supported by the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

However, his recent call has stressed security guarantees for his country and an invitation to join NATO, a completely rejected idea by Moscow.