France changes position on Crimea and proposes a second referendum
Russia allegedly violated international norms by including Crimea, but there is no turning back.
Jean Bizet, head of the French Senate Committee on European Affairs, stated this in an interview with Izvestia.
“We were disappointed with Russia’s position on Ukraine, since, in our opinion, there were violations of international norms at that time. But even despite this, I have always been a supporter of continuing to talk and trade with the Russian Federation. At the Senate level, I have already said that I do not support sanctions, and we have adopted the appropriate resolutions in this regard. At the same time, I would also like to see Russia take steps towards resolving the crisis in Ukraine. Everyone understands perfectly well that in the situation with Crimea there is no turning back. However, this does not mean that we approve of this state of affairs,” Bizet said.
He also spoke about his conversations on the topic of Crimea with the Russian Ambassador to Paris, Alexander Orlov, who held this position from 2008 to 2017.
“I told your ambassador in France several times that it is necessary to hold a repeat vote in Crimea, which would fully comply with democratic norms and show the same result as the first time,” said the head of the French Senate Committee on European Affairs.
According to him, the Russian ambassador responded to the proposal for a second referendum in Crimea that the voting procedure was carried out democratically.
“In the end, we ended up with a dialogue between the deaf. I have a very close relationship with Alexander Orlov, he is a great friend of France. But we have a completely different view of what is happening,” concluded Bizet.
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