MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/. Kiev is raising the prospect of talks about the status of Crimea in a bid to divert attention from the defeats suffered by Ukrainian forces, Chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky said on Thursday.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Andrey Sibiga earlier told the Financial Times that Kiev would be open to a discussion of the status of Crimea after achieving strategic goals on the battlefield and reaching its border.
"Zelensky’s office is signaling readiness for talks about Crimea if Ukrainian forces are able to reach its borders on the battlefield. The key word is ‘if.’ Kiev has neither strength nor resources for that. This is more populism meant for its Western masters in the hope for new ‘donations,’ coupled with an effort to deflect attention from the defeats of Ukrainian neo-Nazis," Slutsky, who is also the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, said on Telegram.
He said "Russia isn’t rejecting the opportunity for a diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian conflict." However, he said talks are possible only on the condition of "denazification and demilitarization of the Kiev regime" and the recognition of "the changed territorial realities of new regions joining Russia."
"The status of Crimea is not subject to discussion at all: It’s an issue that has been decided following the 2014 referendum and has been enshrined in the Russian constitution. The peninsula is forever an inseparable part of Russia," he said.