SIMFEROPOL, July 9. /TASS/. The government of Ukraine has no practical plans of returning Crimea, all their rhetoric on this issue is a part of Kiev’s ideological media campaign, Crimean State Council Chairman Vladimir Konstantinov has said.
"They don’t need Crimea. They will never have Crimea. It is the territory, which they have lost once and for all, the territory that never belonged to them in the first place. It is just a part of a major information campaign. They have no plans of returning Crimea," he told the Soloviev.Live channel on Saturday.
"All this rhetoric is aimed at raising stakes for the upcoming peace talks, which will take place sooner or later," Konstantinov said.
In his opinion, the same applies to the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, provided the longstanding hostilities and numerous civilian casualties there. At the same time, he added that Kiev has probably not yet accepted the secession of the Zaporozhye and Kherson region.
After the 2014 coup in Ukraine, Crimean and Sevastopol authorities held a referendum on reconciliation with Russia. Over 80% of eligible voters took part, with over 95% voting in favor of the reconciliation in both regions. On March 18, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement on admission of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia. On March 21, the agreement was ratified by the parliament. Despite the convincing referendum outcome, Kiev refused to recognize Crimea as a part of Russia.