(Dan Tri) – A Kremlin spokesman announced that Moscow is not discussing any `long-term lease` agreement for the Crimean peninsula.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Photo: RT).
`No, this is not true. Crimea is an inseparable part of the Russian Federation. It is a Russian region,` Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on June 14, when asked
Earlier the same day, on Russia 1 TV channel, Mr. Lukashenko revealed that during negotiations between Russia and Ukraine mediated by Belarus in Türkiye last year, the two sides discussed the option of leasing to Russia. Crimean peninsula.
Mr. Lukashenko said that Russian President Vladimir Putin once showed him a draft proposal that was temporarily accepted by Moscow and Kiev at that time.
`It was a good proposal. They discussed that the foreign ministers would initial the agreement, then the heads of state would decide and sign it. It was a smooth process, but Ukraine gave up.`
Belarus has acted as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine for many years, and hosted negotiations in 2014 and 2015 that led to the signing of the Minsk agreement regarding the Donbass region.
After hostilities broke out last year, several rounds of peace talks were held in Belarus, but later negotiations took place in Istanbul, Türkiye.
The Crimea peninsula is located in the south of Ukraine (Photo: NYT).
Before Russia annexed Crimea following a referendum in 2014, Moscow paid Kiev an annual rent to use the Sevastopol region in Crimea as a base for its Black Sea Fleet.
The agreement was last extended in 2010, when Moscow offered a gas price cut as a condition.
The Ukrainian government and supporting parties have so far not recognized the results of the 2014 referendum and vowed to reclaim the Crimean peninsula.
Head of the General Directorate of Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR) Kirill Budanov once said that the country’s army will enter the Crimean peninsula around the end of spring this year.
However, in an interview with Pravda on June 9, GUR spokesman Andrey Yusov said that Ukraine’s new goal is to attack the peninsula before winter this year.
Mr. Yusov did not give an exact time, citing unpredictable factors on the battlefield.
However, Western military and experts are skeptical about Ukraine’s ability to regain Crimea in the near future.
According to intelligence documents leaked earlier this year, US intelligence officials said that challenges with manpower and equipment could cause Ukraine to make only modest progress if the country begins a counter-attack campaign.