Some politicians in the West urge Ukraine to give up attempts to regain Crimea, the Ukrainian president’s permanent representative to the peninsula told the Polish PAP agency, refusing to reveal the politicians’ identities.
According to Tamila Tasheva, the planned recapture of Crimea annexed by Russia in 2014 sparked a discussion among Western politicians. “Some Western politicians – not the states – are forewarning Ukraine. They claim that the recapture of Crimea could lead to a nuclear war,” explains Tasheva.
“They argue that Crimea can indeed be regained, but the potential consequences will be huge, both for the inhabitants of the peninsula and for Ukraine as a whole,” she says. “In their opinion, we should completely abandon attempts to regain it.”
According to Tasheva, there are even assertions that Crimea has never been Ukrainian. “I want to overthrow them because Crimea has never been Russian. These were colonized areas, but with historical continuity and Crimean-Tatar roots,” she said. “I assure you that the bond between Crimea and Ukraine is very strong, it has been lasting since the Cossack times and nothing will change that,” she added.
The presidential representative says Crimea is not only an important strategic point for the Kremlin but also a symbol of the appropriation of Ukrainian history and culture. “It is Russia’s ‘sacred’ territory and Putin’s personal obsession, and that is why some in the West fear that if we recapture Crimea, Moscow will use tactical nuclear weapons,” Tasheva explains. But she says she does not think Russia will use nuclear weapons “because Putin knows that if he does, there will be no turning back.”
