Putin persuades Crimean Tatars to support Russia's annexation of Crimea - Leader of Crimean Tatars

According to Dzhemiliev, during a phone conversation with Putin, he told the Russian President that he had made a mistake by occupying Crimea and urged him to leave the peninsula.

The leader of the Crimean Tatars added that at first, he thanked Putin for the reception (Dzhemilev was on a visit to Moscow in March 2014 but did not meet with Putin) because he was received almost like a head of state - without any passport control, immediately transported to the hotel in a limousine. Russian dictator, in turn, began to give compliments, noting that he knew Dzhemilev well as a renowned human rights defender.

Dzhemiliev pointed out that Putin has a talent for persuasion, especially in personal conversations. In the discussion, the Russian President kept repeating that they should wait for the so-called "referendum" to find out the opinion of the "Crimean people."

"I said: you know, no one is going to recognize this referendum, and the Crimean Tatars, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, have already decided to boycott your referendum. And he went on again with the same thing: telling me how happy we would be, how he would quickly solve all our problems, and so on," added the Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People.

Occupation of Crimea

The occupation of Crimea by Russia began in late February 2014, when Russian troops seized key sites on the peninsula, including administrative buildings, military units, and airports. Under the control of the occupiers, an illegal "referendum" on Crimea’s annexation to Russia was held on March 16. However, Ukraine, the European Union, the United States, and most countries worldwide didn't recognize the results of this illegal "referendum".

According to Bryan Lanza, Trump's Senior Advisor, returning Crimea to Ukraine's control is allegedly unrealistic.