Britain warns Ukraine not to liberate Crimea
Ukraine will “test the relationship with the West” if it insists it must liberate Crimea, the head of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee has said.
Alicia Kearns said that ministers were reluctant to talk about Kyiv's war aims but it was important to discuss the future of the conflict. “We are going to head towards a stalemate,” Ms Kearns told i. “Ukraine is making amazing, amazing gains but the big problem that no minister will talk about publicly but that we as parliamentarians have a responsibility to mention is Crimea.
“Crimea is Putin’s only meaningful red line. We know he’s mining all the borders with Ukraine. We know he will do anything to protect it. There’s also a legitimate question about what population now remains in Crimea.
“The problem is that Zelensky and the Ukrainian people may decide they want to liberate Crimea. That will test the relationship between the West and the Ukraine. And very few people are willing to be honest about that but that’s the reality.”
Alicia Kearns said that ministers were reluctant to talk about Kyiv's war aims but it was important to discuss the future of the conflict. “We are going to head towards a stalemate,” Ms Kearns told i. “Ukraine is making amazing, amazing gains but the big problem that no minister will talk about publicly but that we as parliamentarians have a responsibility to mention is Crimea.
“Crimea is Putin’s only meaningful red line. We know he’s mining all the borders with Ukraine. We know he will do anything to protect it. There’s also a legitimate question about what population now remains in Crimea.
“The problem is that Zelensky and the Ukrainian people may decide they want to liberate Crimea. That will test the relationship between the West and the Ukraine. And very few people are willing to be honest about that but that’s the reality.”
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