The Pre-Summit of the Third Summit of the International Crimea Platform was held on Tuesday, August 22, where participants discussed the vision of the situation in which Ukraine is on the way to regaining control over Crimea and the occupied parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, the reintegration of the peninsula, the steps being taken and the initiatives to be developed.

During the discussion, Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine’s Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, stated that the liberation of Crimea would most likely be done by military means. He also noted that only by expelling Russia from Crimea and pushing it back deep into the territory of the Sea of Azov will Ukraine give certain security guarantees.

Most likely, this will be done by military action if the aggressor country does not realize that it needs to leave our territory by this time. We have no other option,” the NSDC Secretary emphasized.

In addition, during the discussion on the necessary steps for the region’s reintegration, the participants discussed the developed and planned initiatives.

Thus, Deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Olha Kuryshko noted that the strategy for state authorities’ restoration in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea has already begun to work out. 

“This is a matter of forming a personnel reserve. We have already gained success—a pilot project has been launched under the auspices of the Ministry of Reintegration, the National Agency for Civil Service, and our initiative. That’s the formation of a personnel reserve of civil servants willing to work in the returned territory of Crimea. Currently, over 1500 people have their application issued, 80% of whom want to work in Crimea, and this is very significant,” she said.

The event also featured a special event dedicated to the problems of the indigenous peoples of Crimea. In the course of the discussion, Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, emphasized that Crimean Tatars consider Ukraine to be a state that can guarantee the preservation and development of the Crimean Tatar people.

“The Crimean Tatars are a people eager to self-determine and decide their own destiny. Crimean Tatars are realists in all areas. Taking into account all their potential, including current global trends and the role of the Ukrainian state, Crimean Tatars have found a very good answer to the question: what is Crimea for Ukraine, and what is Ukraine for Crimea? We proceed from the fact that Ukraine is the state for Crimea that can guarantee the preservation and development of the Crimean Tatar people,” explained Refat Chubarov.

The Third Summit of the International Crimea Platform starts on Wednesday, August 23.

As noted by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Emine Dzhaparova, during the preview of the Third Summit of the International Crimea Platform, it will have two additional messages that Ukraine wants to deliver to its partners. 

“Unlike the previous two, tomorrow’s Summit, dedicated to setting ourselves the task of reaffirming the territorial integrity and consolidating the maximum number of our partners around it, will have two additional signals that Ukraine wants to broadcast to our partners – that there can be no trade around Crimea because Crimea is an integral part of Ukraine, and secondly, that Ukraine will decide on the way to de-occupy the peninsula,” she said and added that for the first time in the history of the Crimea Platform, it will also include a domestic political track.