The European Union will never recognize the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula as legally Russian, the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on April 22.

Kallas’ comments come in response to reports that the recognition of Crimea as Russian territory is being considered as part of a U.S.-backed proposal to end the war in Ukraine.

“Crimea is Ukraine,” Kallas told the AFP.

    • el_bhm@lemm.ee
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      1 hour ago

      Slightly wrong question to ask.

      russia has a history of genocide by resettlements. A lot of crimeans got forcibly resettled to make room for russians.

      Ask pre 2013 crimeans.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      19 minutes ago

      I love how this is getting downvoted, particularly given that “Crimeans don’t want to be a part of Russia!” and “They’d rather die than be occupied!” were big talking points to justify Ukraine’s bombing of the territory.

    • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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      1 hour ago

      The “referendum” they conducted was not at all an accurate representation of the resident’s opinions.

      Are you trying to say that you trust literally any electoral mechanisms administered by Russia at this point?

    • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝@sopuli.xyz
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      32 minutes ago

      In case you’re asking this in good faith, Crimea has been the victim of Russian settler-colonialism, so the people livinh there are the invaders in a lot of cases.

      It’s like calling a referendum on Gaza conducted by Israel the will of the people.

    • MoonlightFox@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      Given the choice between living in a authoritarian oligarchy without freedom vs a imperfect european liberal democracy, is not a tough choice for most.

      Without knowing a lot about the older historical context here, I would imagine that the people of Russia and Ukraine have been fairly close throughout modern history. They are neighbouring countries with a language that is very similar, and was both a part of the USSR.

      To me this attack on Ukraine seems like betraying family and/or friends. Ukraine did nothing besides existing peacefully. Russia decided to take land and citizens from Ukraine by annexing Crimea violently. They have continued killing and destroying Ukraine for years to seize land as their own. I have a tough time imagining Ukrainians in Crimea supporting the killing of their fellow countrymen by their violent neighbour for no good reason.

      Since Crimea now is annexed by Russia we can’t trust any polls from there either.

      I guess Russia should just give it back to Ukraine, and then they can do a legitimate vote. Russia obviously won’t do that, because they know how that will end.

      What is the saying? If you love something, then set it free. If it was meant to be, it will come back to you. Russia should use that tactic with all regions of Ukraine that it is currently occupying. I am suuuure it will work out for Russia 😂

    • Auli@lemmy.ca
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      3 hours ago

      Who the fuck cares. You dint invade another country their are other ways to achieve the goal if they wanted to join Russia.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          3 minutes ago

          That’s obviously untrue. We’ve spent centuries endorsing invasion of other countries and obliteration of their native cultures.

          NAFOs are very defensive of Ukraine because its territory that was staked out by Western Europe after the fall of the USSR. No takesies-backsies.

      • Maalus@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        Because it isn’t a reasonable question, it is a russian propaganda question that leads to “but they voted to join Russia” which you then need to counter further with “with literal soldiers standing there and checking your ballot for the right answer”.

      • ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works
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        1 hour ago

        It’s on brand for people who unironically refer to Russian conscripts as ‘Orks’ without any sense of irony.

    • CaptainBasculin@lemmy.ml
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      6 hours ago

      As a Tatar whose grandparents were driven away from Crimea in ethnic cleansing conditions by Russia; I wouldnt want Russia to control there.

      but again maybe i have a bit of personal bias idk

    • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      7 hours ago

      Hard to know for sure since polls and elections conducted by the Russian government are about as reliable as my cats’ reporting on whether or not there’s food in their bowls.

      Most likely, the majority consider themselves Ukrainian but are too oppressed by the occupying forces for their voices to be heard.

      • barsoap@lemm.ee
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        6 hours ago

        Crimea voted for independence from the USSR just as other oblasts did. There once was an independence movement but it lost itself between “It’d actually be quite hard for such a small nation” and “Ukraine treats us fairly”. No talk but among fringes of the fringe about joining Russia. Good relations with Russia, sure, but that ship now has sailed.

        …and that’s with the USSR shipping lots of Russians into Crimea over the centuries, diluting the Tatar population. They did even more of that now and those new arrivals will probably, and rightly, be considered illegal immigrants down the line, and deported. Which is mild treatment because settling in occupied territories is a war crime.