Crimea Platform: Agenda of the third de-occupation summit

Agenda

The meeting of Crimea Platform participants on August 23 will focus on issues of territorial integrity, the future of the peninsula after its de-occupation, and humanitarian policies.

Security in the Azov-Black Sea region will also be a key topic, given its importance in grain transportation corridors.

Emine Dzhaparova, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, stated that the summit will revolve around two main messages.

"There can be no trade around Crimea because Crimea is an integral part of Ukraine, and secondly, Ukraine will decide the path to de-occupation of the peninsula on its own," she said.

While the two previous summits aimed to reaffirm that Crimea is part of Ukraine and consolidate maximum international support on this issue, the August 23 negotiations will, for the first time, address the issue of Crimea's reintegration after the war.

Dzhaparova disclosed that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy initiated an internal political track of discussions at the summit. During the second panel, representatives from various Ukrainian ministries will discuss the restoration of Crimea after the war.

The third panel of negotiations will address humanitarian policies, including discussions on the demographic situation on the peninsula, human rights violations, and the forced issuance of Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens.

Participants

This year's summit will take place in a hybrid format, with participants present both in person and online.

The first Crimea Platform saw representatives from 47 countries in attendance. The second summit managed to gather 60 participants, including countries from the Global South.

Emine Dzhaparova said that on August 23, 2023, there will be four additional new countries in the negotiations, not specifying which ones.

It is known that ahead of the summit, the President of Hungary, Katalin Novak, and the Prime Minister of Moldova, Dorin Rechan, visited Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also invited the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, to the third meeting on Crimea.

Ukraine's expectations from the negotiations

According to Tamila Tasheva, the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine expects support from its partners for plans regarding the reintegration of the peninsula after the war, particularly in economic terms.

Security in the Azov and Black Seas will also be discussed at the summit.

"We must definitely discuss this because all issues related, in particular, to grain corridors, are related to security in the Azov-Black Sea region," Tasheva said.

First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Emine Dzhaparova expressed hope that the summit would demonstrate partner support for Ukraine's proactive stance.

The Ukrainian Parliament emphasized that the Crimea Platform is a serious political and diplomatic initiative, and Ukraine's task is to draw maximum attention to the issue of Crimea's de-occupation.

"The Crimea Platform is aimed at achieving a unified global position that Crimea will be, must be, and can be liberated and de-occupied. This is the component of the Peace Formula of our President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. There is no other way," emphasized Denys Maslov, Chairman of the Committee on Legal Policy in the Verkhovna Rada.

What is the Crimea Platform?

The negotiations under the Crimea Platform format were initiated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to unite international efforts for the de-occupation of Crimea, the protection of the rights and freedoms of the peninsula's population, and to strengthen European and global security.

The inaugural summit took place in 2021 in Kyiv. Following the summit, a declaration was adopted condemning human rights violations in Crimea, the militarization of the peninsula, obstruction of navigation through the Kerch Strait, and the demographic changes on the peninsula through the resettlement of Russian citizens to Crimea.

The second summit was held in August 2022, amid full-scale Russian aggression. Due to this, the format was remote, but it gathered a record number of participants - 60 leaders of countries, governments, and international organizations, including NATO.

In a joint statement, participants expressed support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, calling on Russia to immediately withdraw its troops and equipment from Ukraine, including Crimea, and to cease serious crimes against Ukrainians and the persecution of Crimean Tatars.

In addition to the leaders' summit, parliamentary meetings of the Crimea Platform are also taking place. The first occurred in Croatia in the fall of 2022, and further negotiations are planned in Prague on October 24, 2023.

On the eve of the summit, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksii Danilov said that Ukraine is likely to liberate Crimea through military means, as only de-occupation will guarantee the country's security.

Additionally, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, announced new actions in Crimea in the coming days.