If Ukraine's announced counteroffensive is successful and its forces reach the administrative border of the Crimean peninsula, Kyiv could seek a diplomatic solution with Russia instead of trying to recover it by force, an option that is not ruled out, however. This idea, expressed by an adviser to President Volodímir Zelenski, would mean a change of position in what has been maintained so far by the Ukrainian government: that there will be no peace until Russian troops leave all of Ukraine, including Crimea.
“If we manage to achieve our strategic goals on the battlefield, and when we are over the administrative border of Crimea, we are ready to open a diplomatic page to discuss this issue,” Andri Sybiha, deputy head of President Zelensky's Office, said in an interview. with Financial Times published this Thursday. But he pointed out: "That does not mean that we exclude the liberation (of Crimea) by our army."
The statement by Sybiha, who is a diplomat, comes at a time when violent fighting continues in Bakhmut (Donetsk region) and, like months ago, with the Russians on the offensive and the Ukrainians holding that stronghold. On Wednesday, Zelensky hinted again that his troops might withdraw if there was a risk of the Russians encircling them. Yesterday Yevgueni Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group mercenaries, who are bearing most of the brunt of the Russian attack, assured that there is no sign that the Ukrainians are withdrawing. Instead, he called for more support from the Russian regular army.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, also spoke on Thursday of possible diplomatic contacts. But to rule them out.
The press secretary of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, was asked about the words of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who during his visit to China has said that he has the help of Xi Jinping to return Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table .
Peskov assured that currently there is no other alternative for Moscow than to continue the fighting. “Of course, China has a very effective and impressive ability to provide mediation services. And recent diplomatic successes have eloquently demonstrated this,” he commented. Beijing's mediation has managed to get Iran and Saudi Arabia to resume their diplomatic relations.
"Based on the position, both official and unofficial, that they declare from Kyiv, at the moment there is no other way for us than to continue the special military operation," Peskov continued, using the euphemistic name with which Moscow refers to the war conflict.
French President and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen began a three-day visit to China on Wednesday, April 5, one of the aims of which is to make China reconsider its cooperation with Russia and to mediate in the Ukrainian conflict.
Beijing presented a draft peace plan in February with very general 12 points. Among them was respect for the sovereignty of all countries, which could please Ukraine, but also that the security of one country should not be guaranteed at the expense of others, which is to Russia's liking.
Moscow and Kyiv also hold diametrically opposed positions on the territory that belongs to each other. Ukraine maintains that peace requires the withdrawal of Russian forces from all of its territory. Russia has indicated that its adversary must recognize the "new realities", which means it must give up the four regions it said it annexed in September last year: Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south, Luhansk and Donetsk in the east. And, of course, also the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014 in an operation that Kyiv considers illegal and that most of the international community does not recognize.
