Five years after Russia’s occupation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea began, President Petro Poroshenko has promised Kyiv will regain control of the peninsula if he is re-elected.
Speaking in an interview on March 17 with TV channel Ukraina, Poroshenko said that “Crimea will be returned to Ukraine, without haggling and behind-the-scenes agreements.”
“We will do everything for it to happen as soon as possible, immediately after the presidential election,” he said, adding that he doesn’t rule out the possibility that Ukraine will also see progress in the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission to the Russian-occupied parts of the Donbas – also right after the election.
The first round of Ukraine’s presidential election will be on March 31. There will likely be a run-off second round between the top two candidates from the first round on April 21.
Previously, Poroshenko has been more cautious about Ukraine’s prospect for regaining control of Crimea. After his election in May 2014, he claimed that Ukraine would get the territory back through international courts and by virtue of improvements in Ukraine: economic growth, democracy, and a visa-free regime with the European Union.
Back in February 2015 he said that Ukraine would certainly get Crimea back, but he would not promise that this would happen quickly and easily.
Poroshenko’s promise of a prompt regaining of Crimea is reminiscent of his 2014 election vow to end the war in the Donbas quickly.
Five years on, as he runs for a second term, the war is still going on. The death toll is at least 13,000 people, according to UN estimates.
Moreover, the president is now repeating previously unfulfilled promises as well.
For instance, in a March 11 interview with another Ukrainian television channel, ICTV, he promised “zero tolerance for corruption” – the exact phrase he used on the day he was elected.
Read more: Not so easy this time. Poroshenko fights for his political life on March 31
Poroshenko, whose 2019 re-election campaign promotes him as the only candidate who is able to defeat the enemy, Russia, said in the March 17 interview that electing anyone but him would play into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Putin hopes that anyone but Poroshenko will be elected, so that the new Ukrainian leaders crawl on their knees and grant him Crimea. My position – don’t count on it! We will liberate Crimea,” Poroshenko said.
The mention of kneeling was a jibe at his main challenger in the presidential race, comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The actor is leading in the polls, while the incumbent president has slid to third place amid a corruption scandal and allegations of vote-buying.
On March 1, 2014, just after the EuroMaidan Revolution and impending Russian aggression in the Donbas, Zelenskiy made an appeal to Putin, asking him not to unleash a military conflict.
“If you want I can beg you and get on my knees, but please don’t force Ukraine on its knees,” he said in the appeal, which was broadcast on Ukraine’s 1+1 television channel.
Video of Zelenskiy’s appeal was dug up by his opponents after the comedian announced on New Year’s Eve that he would run for president.
Crimea was invaded by Russia in a covert military operation that began on or about Feb. 20, 2014, two days before former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych abandoned office in Kyiv. In less than a month, Russian special forces soldiers, posing as “local militias,” took control of government, police, and security service offices across the peninsula, and besieged Ukrainian military units in their bases.
The Kremlin hastily arranged a sham referendum, which was held on March 16, in an attempt to legitimize its land grab. Then on March 18, Russia claimed it had annexed the Ukrainian territory. Most countries in the world do not recognize this claim.
Russian President Vladimir Putin flew to Sevastopol on March 18 to mark the fifth anniversary of what Kremlin has called “the historic rejoining” of Crimea to Russia.
