Poland raises the issue of the need to deoccupy Donbas and Crimea at all important international venues. This is very important for the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, as stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a joint interview with Polish President Andrzej Duda for Ukrainian and Polish media in Odesa.
"I want to thank Mr. Duda. At all political venues, at all geopolitically important meetings, the Republic of Poland always supports us despite the fact that it is not a member of the "Normandy Four", which discusses the end of the war in Donbas. I am grateful to the President personally and to the entire Polish people for their unwavering position on non-recognition of the annexation of Crimea. This is very important," the Ukrainian Head of State said.
He noted that the strong sanctions policy imposed by the United States, EU countries, including Poland, is a significant international pressure on the aggressor state.
"And as Mr. President Duda rightly says, this is not just a war in Donbas. What was the beginning? The annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. The world must not forget this. Because, frankly speaking, when we speak at these important meetings of the "Normandy Four" and then discuss everything at the meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, the issue of Crimea is not raised," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Therefore, it is very important that Poland supports Ukraine in keeping these issues on the international agenda.
"Yesterday, the President and I said that we are establishing the Crimean platform, to which we want to include all our friends, all those countries that want to deoccupy Crimea and return all rights to Ukrainians living on the Crimean peninsula," the President of Ukraine noted.
Andrzej Duda added that, according to many experts, the Russian Federation's attack on Ukraine took place in order to prevent our country's accession to NATO and the EU.
The President of Poland noted that the beginning of the Russian occupation of Donbas and Crimea was a gross violation of international law. And the war will end when Ukraine regains full control over its legal borders - in Crimea and in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
"This is a basic condition, and it should be demanded by the entire international community," he said.
According to Andrzej Duda, it is impossible to allow the long-standing frozen conflict to remain in the center of Europe, because it may flare up again.
"It is necessary to put questions very firmly. This aggression must be ended. And the internationally recognized state borders of Ukraine must be returned," the President of Poland stressed.