Kyiv [Ukraine], April 7: Ukraine may consider holding talks with Russia over Crimea after Kyiv's long-planned spring offensive, according to a senior aide to President VolodymyrZelensky.
"If we will succeed in achieving our strategic goals on the battlefield and when we will be on the administrative border with Crimea, we are ready to open [a] diplomatic page to discuss this issue," the deputy head of Zelensky's office, AndriySybiha, was quoted as saying in the Financial Times on Thursday. "It doesn't mean that we exclude the way of liberation [of Crimea] by our army," he added. Ukrainian presidential office adviser MykhailoPodolyak stressed that such talks would not be about territorial concessions.Podolyak said that "real negotiations" with Moscow could only take place after the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014 - reiterating Zelensky's position. Sybiha's comments were Kyiv's first indication of a possible dialogue since it broke off ceasefire talks a year ago, the newspaper wrote. Military experts expect an offensive by Ukrainian troops this spring to retake Russian-held territory. The most likely direction of attack is a move in the country's south towards the coast to drive a wedge through Russian forces.
However, it is unclear whether the weapons supplied to Kyiv by the West will be sufficient to ensure the success of such an operation. Regarding Russia's strong military presence in Crimea, Western military experts fear this could lead to a major war escalation and even provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons.
Moscow considers the strategically important peninsula its territory and has always stressed that it would defend Crimea with all means. Meanwhile, on Thursday, Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported that the commander of Russia's forces in eastern Ukraine had been removed after heavy defeats.
Source: Qatar Tribune