KIEV, August 19. /TASS/. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has said that 44 countries and international organizations had decided to join Kiev as the founders of the Crimean Platform due to be launched on August 23.
"Today, I am announcing the participants in the Crimean Platform summit," Kuleba told reporters at a press briefing on Thursday. "These are 44 countries and international organizations. Together with Ukraine, that makes 45 participants."
The Crimean Platform was initiated by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in order to coordinate efforts globally to bring Crimea back into Ukraine’s jurisdiction. The platform is expected to be launched on August 23, when the so-called inauguration summit will be held. Commenting on the upcoming meeting initiated by Kiev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the West would "continue to groom the neo-Nazi and racist sentiment of the current Ukrainian government."