Video commentary by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, about the summit of the Crimean Platform

by Dmytro Kuleba

Good day everyone! I will talk about the preparation for the summit of the International Crimean Platform, which will take place tomorrow, August 23, in an online format.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set three tasks for diplomacy to strengthen the Crimean platform:

• Increase the number of participants
• Expand the geography of participation in the Crimean platform
• Raise the level of summit participants

I can already note that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the Office of the President of Ukraine, our embassies, and missions abroad, are successfully performing all three. This year's summit will positively surprise the number of participants and the global geography and level of representation.

Last year, the founding summit of the Crimean Platform became the most significant diplomatic event in Ukrainian history, but the geography of the participants also revealed weak points. At that time, we managed to consolidate the entire Euro-Atlantic area and the countries of the Group of Seven, but other regions, in particular Asia, Africa, and Latin America, were relatively poorly represented.

This year, the Crimean platform will become truly global. Its geography will expand, in particular, due to the countries of the African continent and the other side of the Atlantic.

We have already received confirmation from new countries and international organizations. The level of participants will also be higher. Last year, out of 46 delegations, 15 were represented at the heads of states, governments and parliaments, and 3 more at the heads of international institutions.

About 60 countries and international organizations have already confirmed their participation in the second summit of the International Crimean Platform. Among them, about 40 are at the level of Presidents and Prime Ministers.

I will not reveal all the details so as not to make the task easier for our enemy. You will see everything tomorrow.

In order to make the Crimean platform global, we actively convinced the states of all continents that this format is not only about Crimea but in general about justice, international law, respect for borders, and observance of the principle of territorial integrity.

The absolute majority of the world's states feel that the observance of these principles is the basis of the security of their own countries and their people. Therefore, the whole world is interested in the success of the International Crimean Platform, the goal of which is the de-occupation of Crimea and the restoration of international law.

The Summit of the Crimean Platform is especially relevant now, against the background of a full-scale war. Russian aggression demonstrates how urgent the issue of ending the occupation of Crimea is. After all, Russia uses the captured peninsula as a military base for its aggression and destabilization of the whole world. The return of Crimea under the control of Ukraine will guarantee the security of the entire Black Sea region, Europe, and the world. The fact that the number of participants in the Summit of the Crimean Platform increased by more than a third, and the geography of participation became truly global shows that the whole world is on the side of Ukraine in the issue of the return of Crimea.

The return of Crimea is one of the key principles of President Zelensky's diplomatic team. This is a task that we will never leave or forget. Justice will be restored, and Crimea was, is, and will be Ukraine.