The head of the Crimean parliament’s committee on people’s diplomacy and interethnic relations, Yuri Gempel, called the words of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko absurd that he would have fought for Crimea in the place of the Ukrainian authorities.
Earlier, Lukashenko, in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon, said that Ukraine lost Crimea in 2014 because it “did not have the power and desire to defend its piece of land.”
“Lukashenka did not justify the hopes of the Crimeans. Such statements are absurd, since, in fact, they propose to fight for territory against the people and their peaceful and civilized choice, “Gempel said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
The Crimean parliamentarian advised Lukashenko to visit the peninsula and talk to local residents before making such rash statements.
Gempel stressed that the reunification of Crimea with Russia is “a natural and legitimate process of the return of the Crimean people to their historical homeland, and not some kind of annexation.”
On August 6, the channel “Visiting Gordon” published an interview with Lukashenka. In it, the Belarusian leader, in particular, called the events of 2014 in Ukraine a coup d’etat.
Crimea became part of Russia following a referendum in March 2014. 96.77% of the inhabitants of the peninsula and 95.6% of the voters of Sevastopol supported joining the Russian Federation. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that the procedure took place in strict accordance with international law, but Kiev does not recognize the results of the vote.