© Paolo Pellegrin-Magnum Photos TIMEUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Speaking on February 15 at the Munich Security Conference, Volodymyr Zelenskiy again made a plea for support from Western nations for help in Kyiv's fight against Russia-backed separatists.
"The war in Ukraine -- I know -- is a war in Europe. Together with the annexation of Crimea, it has already been going on for as long as World War II -- just imagine!" Zelenskiy said.
"Our wish today is to hold local elections throughout all the territories of Ukraine, including particular parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in October 2020," he said. "There is the same wish concerning the territory of Crimea as well."
Comment: The Donbass is doable - it's a condition of the Minsk Agreements, after all. But as for Crimea, no chance:
Pompeo's bombshell: 'Crimea is lost and will remain Russian' quotes Ukrainian news outlet. True?
"The people in Donbas need elections that will be recognized by Ukraine and the entire world as legitimate," he said. "And they cannot be such if they are not held in line with Ukrainian legislation, at the sound of gunfire, and without [Ukraine's] control of our border."
In December, Zelenskiy met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Paris as part of the so-called Normandy Format talks. Germany and France also participated.
But the talks failed to produce a concrete resolution to the conflict, which has killed more than 13,000 people and displaced more than 1 million.
I smell the unmistakable odor of bullshit. What the butchers in Kiev want is to ethnically cleanse Donbass of Russian speakers, and steal the land of Donbass for Ukrainians and their American corporate masters. This will happen when hell freezes over. Meanwhile, they can go and sexually violate their mothers.