Afrasianet - Zakaria Shahin - When Volodymyr Zelensky launched his initiative to hold the "Crimean Platform" conference, he aimed to put the issue of the island on the international agenda permanently, but observers believe that one of the most important reasons that pushed Ukraine to organize the "Crimean Platform" conference was the decline in the positions of a number of countries on the issue of Crimea, after it was the basis of extensive political and economic sanctions imposed on Russia.   

According to a number of Ukrainian officials, the holding of the international conference of the "Crimean Platform" is the greatest event in its history, as the conference coincides with the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence on August 24, and according to the Foreign Ministry, it aims to urge countries not to recognize the annexation of Crimea to Russia.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba believes that the platform will correct this mistake, and that the circle of countries participating in the platform will expand in the future, but what happened is quite the opposite.

The positions of a number of countries on the issue of Crimea have declined after it was the basis of broad political and economic sanctions imposed on Russia.

One of the biggest examples of this retreat is the positions of Germany and France, which are key EU countries, and the so-called "Normandy Quartet" for a settlement in eastern Ukraine.   In a striking statement, the adviser in the Ukrainian presidential office says that "Germany abandoned Ukraine in favor of Russia after holding out against it for 7 years." 

"Western countries are generally concerned about China's growing influence, so they are ready to negotiate with Russia," he said, adding that according to analysts, there are several factors behind this decline in positions, the most important of which is the West's efforts to prevent any possible military alliance between China and Russia.   

These and other factors may explain the controversy over the size and level of participation in the "Crimean Platform", which was identified by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry at the time by about 44 entities, including the heads of 9 countries: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova, Slovenia, and Finland.

According to the ministry, the participants included the president of the European Council, the prime ministers of Romania, Georgia, Croatia and Sweden, the foreign ministers of Turkey, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Denmark, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Norway and North Macedonia, the defense ministers of the United Kingdom and Portugal, as well as a personal envoy of the US president.   

Writer and political analyst Dmytro Voronkov believes that "the quantitative index is encouraging, but much more important is not the list of countries but the level at which they will be represented."   

"Until recently, key countries did not specify the level of their representatives, such as Turkey, Germany, France and the United States, and this shows that the issue has accurate calculations, and explains the reluctance of many countries of the world to participate, to be limited to already supporting parties, most of which are within the framework of the European Union bloc, and there is nothing new about it," he said.

It seems that the countries that have been quick to respond to Ukraine's call are those that claim that there is a danger to it from Russia. Russia considers the talk of Crimea a red line that cannot be approached, as the Russian Foreign Ministry says that "Russia sees the strategy to end the occupation of Crimea announced by Kyiv as an unacceptable threat, and the participation of any country in the activities of the Crimean platform is considered an infringement on the territorial integrity of Russia."

Minister Sergei Lavrov describes the platform as a "witch gathering", using the satirical Russian term "sash" that calls the meetings of nightly celebrations of witches or fortune tellers, considering that "the West's position on Crimea is flawed, shameful and offensive to the island, after the inhabitants of the peninsula have expressed their will."

Many believe that the platform's appeals and cries are unresonant, considering that the issue of Crimea is primarily Russian after the people of Crimea, the majority of whom are Russian-speakers, decided their decision, with 95% of them voting in favor of joining the Russian Federation in a referendum held on March 16.

The Kiev authorities as well as Western countries considered the referendum illegitimate, while Russia asserted that the Crimean referendum clearly expressed the will of the people of the peninsula and did not violate international law.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in November that after the change of power in Kyiv, Russian forces had surrounded Ukrainian forces deployed in Crimea in order to prevent bloodshed and to allow the region's residents to express their position on determining their future.

Later, protesters in eastern Ukraine occupied administrative offices and government institutions, announced the establishment of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, and elected "people's governors."

The People's Republic of Donetsk and Lugansk declared independence on May 12, according to the results of a referendum held in eastern Ukraine on May 11.

The head of the Social Council of Crimea, Alexander Formanchuk, says nuclear war will break out "immediately" if any attempts are made to return Crimea to Ukrainian control.

In an interview with the Novosti news agency, Formanchuk warned that "any attempt to seize Crimea and return it to Ukraine will immediately escalate into a global nuclear conflict, and Russia will not forgive it."

Formanchuk's comments came in response to what former CIA director David Petraeus said about the possibility of retaking Crimea, which had returned to Roussel. Formanchuk said the scenarios outlined by the former CIA director "involve suicide."

He added that Washington and Kyiv should remember Russia's reaction to the October 2022 attack on the Kerch Strait bridge linking Crimea to Russia.   "After that attack, high-precision strikes began on Ukraine's critical infrastructure facilities, Crimea is Russia's untouchable territory, if they try to bring it back to Ukraine, the United States will be responsible for unleashing a thermonuclear military conflict," he added.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry considered Ukrainian repeated statements about the recapture of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, as "the promotion of illusion."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press conference in the capital, Moscow: "Kyiv is promoting delusional ideas about its intention to retake Crimea."

In the end, Kyiv's illusions collide with the changes that resulted after the Russian special military operation, where Ukrainian losses accumulated to the point of collapse despite the increasing pumping from the United States of America and with it NATO, where any observer of events can clearly see that the West, although it is pushing the war to the last Ukrainian, knows that the situation in the confrontation with Russia is hopeless, and that sooner or later it will push Ukraine itself to look for a way out of the impasse that has set it Even if it comes at the expense of getting rid of Zelensky, American history is full of many examples of American abandonment of its allies at a moment when they are needed.

The declaration of independence of the Republic of Crimea in March 2014 and its accession to the Russian Federation represents the legitimate right of the Crimean people to self-determination in the circumstances of the violent coup that took place in Ukraine and in its aftermath the domination of radical nationalist forces that have not shirked terrorist acts and terrorized both political opponents and citizens alike in the entire regions of the country.

In these circumstances, and based on the results of the referendum of 16 March 2014, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Crimea took the decision to declare Crimea a sovereign and independent state, the Republic of Crimea. The Republic of Crimea concluded an international treaty with the Russian Federation on 18 March of the same year on its accession.

The legality and validity of their right to self-determination is clear, especially in light of the bloody military conflict in the Donbas region (eastern Ukraine). It is not hard to imagine what the embodiment of Ukrainian political realities in Crimea would have led to if the peninsula had been under Ukrainian control. Look at the miserable results of twenty years when Crimea was part of Ukraine!

Ensuring sustainable social and economic development in Crimea remains an unconditional priority. From 2015 to 2022, the special federal program entitled "Social and Economic Development in the Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol" was implemented, at  a cost  of more than $13.2 billion.

The aim of this program was to address imbalances in regional economic development, bring the standard of living of the population and economic development in Crimea to Russian general standards and create an environment conducive to providing sustainable economic growth for the peninsula and for the effective use of its tourism potential. 49 national projects have been developed in this republic with a funding value of $1.1 billion. Crimea operates a free economic zone with investments of about $1.8 billion, which in turn will create 53,000 new jobs.

Raising the standard of living of the Crimean population remains a key importance for socio-economic development. About 60% of the Republic's budget income has been allocated to finance social projects in the areas of health, education and culture. Since the accession of the peninsula to Russia, the public sector's salaries have increased, pensions and financial assistance have doubled or two-and-a-half times and are close to the national average.

The consumer market in Crimea has become saturated with food products, a third of which is locally produced. Production has also increased. Since 2015, the industrial sector has been in Crimea twice and in Sevastopol two and a half times. At the same time, the share of industry in regional GDP has increased from 10 percent to 18 percent, and this output has more than doubled. Industrial orders almost doubled compared to 2014.

The process of building new infrastructure, rebuilding and upgrading old infrastructure, including the construction of the bridge across the Kerch Strait and the construction of the Tavrida highway, which will connect the Kerch Bridge to the city of Sevastopol and connect Crimea to its west, is being paved.

Crimea is witnessing positive changes in the socio-economic sphere against the background of the current sanctions imposed on it by Western countries, in addition to the ongoing Ukrainian provocation and Kyiv's cutting off air, sea, postal and railway lines with the peninsula.

Despite all the objective difficulties, the federal and local authorities have done much to ensure a dignified life for the people of Crimea and to fully develop the peninsula as part of Russia. Much remains to be done.

In recent years, Russia has been working objectively and extensively to take into account and implement the economic, social, cultural, religious and other interests of the minorities living in Crimea, including the Armenian, Bulgarian, Greek, Crimean Tatars, Italians and Germans. Impartial observers clearly see that the Russian authorities are making great efforts to promote inter-ethnic peace and harmony in the Republic of Crimea. As a result of this policy, more than 90% of the population of Crimea does not feel any serious ethnic conflicts in their daily lives According to polls.

Recent years have clearly shown that, despite all difficulties, there is still a constant interest in developing the treatment of Crimea by representatives of foreign parliaments, businessmen, and foreign social, political, cultural, sports and media circles. About 100 delegations visit Crimea annually. Many international events are also held regularly in Crimea.