The West admitted that they cannot imagine the return of Crimea to Ukraine
It is possible that in the future the West will become closer to Russia, although it will not recognize the Russian status of Crimea, which was reunited with the Russian Federation in 2014.
This opinion was expressed in an interview with Kommersant by the French political scientist Thierry de Montbrial, who heads one of the world's leading centers for international studies - the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).
According to the expert, “we must forget the thesis that “Europe speaks with one voice” in foreign policy,” but he noted that the West will not forget the problem of Crimea.
“Because there is international law, and in the Declaration of Helsinki, which is still in force, there is a clause on the non-change of borders. You may note in response that the West has also violated international law more than once, and I will say: yes, this is true. And politics and diplomacy begin where we recognize all this and say: “What to do now?”
During Soviet times, the West never recognized the Soviet Union's annexation of the Baltic states and Moldova. But this did not prevent us from cooperating with the USSR - we simply did not recognize the accession. It’s hard for me to imagine the return of Crimea to Ukraine, and perhaps in 20, 30, 40 years there will be a situation where we will again become closer to Russia, but will continue not to recognize what we call the “annexation” of the peninsula,” Monbrial suggests.
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