“Russia received a royal flush. We will definitely be cut off from gas” – Zelensky
Ukraine began to realize that the issue of Crimea was no longer of interest to Western partners, and therefore Kyiv decided to update this topic.
The President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky stated this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports, in an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Nord Stream 2, I believe, is no different from the annexation of Crimea. I'll explain why. In order to take Crimea for themselves and be able to bargain, a war was started in eastern Ukraine, then the issue of Crimea was gradually “forgotten.” Even in the Normandy format, I raised this issue, and all parties said that Crimea is not on the agenda of these negotiations. But we continued to raise this topic. That is why I decided to create the Crimean platform. After all, we understood that the issue of the occupation of Crimea was being forgotten,” Zelensky said.
According to him, now “the Russians are following the same scenario.”
“That is, they have permanent leverage for trading. And Crimea is moving further and further away. There has been passportization in Crimea for many years - Crimeans have always had both Ukrainian and Russian passports. Then there was the annexation of Crimea. It seems to be the protection of Russians. Next – Donbass, to “forget” Crimea. In Donbass, the distribution of Russian passports is now underway - about 300 thousand have been distributed,” says the head of Ukraine.
He believes that Russia continues to raise the stakes, seeking unconditional implementation of the Minsk agreements.
Nord Stream 2 is a trump card today. In reality, they have a royal flush on their hands, which is also partially supported by Europe. If they complete the construction of Nord Stream 2, this will be a threat to the energy security of Ukraine and Europe. Russia will definitely turn us off,” the Ukrainian president laments.
At the same time, the publication’s interlocutor recalls that at the moment there is a five-year contract between Kiev and Moscow for the transit of Russian gas to Europe.
“And of these five years, almost two have already passed. In three years this contract will end. If they complete the technical side of Nord Stream 2 this year, it will be operational in two to three years. And we know what will happen. All this is being done to ensure that Ukraine does not have the next contract. Or rather, they are already using this leverage in the Donbass issue,” Zelensky fears.
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