The summit took place in the Czech capital on Tuesday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the event via video link.
Zelensky said that Ukraine would soon regain “full fire control over the temporarily occupied Crimea and its adjacent waters,” the Ukrinform news agency reported.
He told the gathering in Prague: “Russian control of the Black Sea and the presence of the occupier’s fleet created an illusion that Russia’s dominance in the Black Sea was insurmountable. In addition to this, the deliberate settlement of Crimea with hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens and the extensive repression by the occupier against all forms of freedom and resistance could create the impression that Crimea was subdued. Now, the illusions are fading away.“
Ukraine’s president added that Russia’s military fleet was gradually retreating from Crimea.
He said: "This is a historic achievement. Recently, the Russian leadership was forced to announce the creation of a new base for the Black Sea Fleet – or what’s left of it – on the occupied territory of Georgia, in the southeastern part of the sea, as far as possible from Ukrainian missiles and naval drones. But we will reach them everywhere."
Zelensky said there were no longer any safe bases or entirely reliable logistical routes "for Russian terrorists" in Crimea and the occupied parts of the Black Sea and Azov coast, the Ukrinform news agency reported.
He stated: “As of now, we have not yet achieved full fire control over Crimea and its adjacent waters. But we will. It’s just a matter of time.”
Zelensky also said: “I welcome all of you – the participants of the Crimea Platform Summit, its parliamentary dimension, which makes our Crimea Platform exceptionally strong by adding the energy of the democratic world. This is what fundamentally sets us apart from Russia.”
He stressed: “The more united we are, the faster we will end Russian aggression with a reliable and just peace.”
Zelensky also called on Ukraine’s allies to stop the spread of Russian propaganda across the globe and to ensure that the sanctions imposed on Moscow are enforced, according to Ukrinform.
Meanwhile, Ruslan Stefanchuk, the chairman of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada parliament, urged the parliaments of the Crimea Platform countries to take legislative steps to implement sanctions against Russia and block all possible ways to avoid them, news outlets reported.
“Sanctions are our collective response to the acts of aggression. This is a clear signal that we will steadfastly uphold the rule of law and international regulations,” Stefanchuk said.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala told the Second Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform that “Ukraine will not be a free country until its entire territory within the borders of 1991 is liberated,” the IAR news agency reported.
Fiala added it was “a matter of freedom, morals and human rights,” as cited by IAR.
Participants in the Prague gathering adopted a Joint Declaration of the Second Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform.
In the document, they demanded that Russia “immediately, completely, and unconditionally withdraw all its forces from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, including Crimea.”
Crimea Platform lawmakers also reiterated their support for “the application and further strengthening of sanctions against the Russian Federation, and diplomatic, economic and other appropriate measures, in order to exert pressure on the Russian Federation, as well as to counter sanctions circumvention.”
Among the signatories was Poland's lower-house Speaker Elżbieta Witek.
Launched by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2021, the Crimea Platform is a consultative forum bringing together like-minded countries and international organisations seeking to put an end to Russia's occupation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, the PAP news agency reported.
Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine by land, air and sea, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Wednesday is day 609 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, Ukrinform, Crimea Platform, president.gov.ua
