Ukraine to host 3rd summit of Crimea Platform in capital Kyiv

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Wednesday will host the third summit of the Crimea Platform, which will be held in a hybrid format.

The Crimea Platform, a diplomatic initiative launched by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2021, intends to be an international coordination mechanism to draw global attention to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The first summit of the initiative was held on Aug. 23, 2021, and was attended by representatives from more than 40 countries. Its second meeting took place exactly a year after.

A pre-summit of the third meeting of the Crimea Platform was held in Kyiv on Tuesday, which brought 100 participants from 12 countries.

Unlike the previous two summits, the third meeting will give two additional messages, namely that there can be “no trade around Crimea” and that “Ukraine will decide on the way to de-occupy the peninsula," Emine Dzhaparova, Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister, said during the pre-summit, according to a statement on the platform’s website.

Among the most notable attendees of the summit include Hungarian President Katalin Novak, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.