The Kremlin has declared the status of Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine nearly three years ago, “non-negotiable,” after a Ukrainian lawmaker suggested Kyiv could discuss the peninsula’s status during negotiations about eastern Ukraine.
Russia has backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, since Ukrainian protesters toppled their pro-Russian government in 2014, though Moscow denies any official military operation in its neighbor. Speaking to TV channel 112 on Jan. 17, Ukrainian member of parliament Nadiya Savchenko suggested that Kyiv could restore control over eastern Ukraine if it temporarily renounced its claim over Crimea.
