Ukraine will take Crimea back soon – one way or another, says the Ukrainian Intelligence chief

Ukraine will return Crimea by force of diplomacy and force of arms, said the chief of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Defense Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with LIGA.net.

He was answering a question related to the fact that, as the journalists said, warnings against military liberation of Crimea have been lately appearing more and more often in Western publications. “For some reason, they consider it an exclusively diplomatic story. For them, the borders on February 23 (perhaps with the liberation of Donbas) are the limit. And Crimea is a red rag. How can you answer these warnings?” they asked the intelligence chief.

“I am not interested in listening to the opinions of some people who do not reflect the position of the Ukrainian people. I have the opposite opinion,” Budanov answered. “We’ll take back all the lost territories. Ukraine is a country recognized within the borders of 1991. Whoever does not agree with this does not agree with the world order that has existed since the end of the Second World War and with the new principles of the U.N.”

“Crimea will be returned in a combined way by both force and diplomacy. But without force, nothing is going to happen. Our units will enter there with weapons in hand,” Budanov stressed.

He also recommended Crimea as a place for seaside vacationing in 2023. “This is a pearl of Ukraine waiting for Ukrainian tourists for a long time.”