Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba believes that Crimea has already become a "suitcase without a handle” for Russia. The Ukrainian minister also shared his plans for the future, and one has to admit that those are grandiose plans.
"Crimea has already become a 'suitcase without a handle' for Russia. The Crimean Platform will turn it into an unbearable load. <…> This summit will become a regular event, we will work on it. I am convinced that from year to year it will attract more participants," the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said at a briefing on July 28 … At present, the head of the Foreign Ministry said, representatives of 28 countries confirmed their participation in the summit.
According to Kuleba, Kiev expects a change in the attitude of the international community to the topic of Crimea after the first Crimean Platform summit, which is scheduled for 23 August. Ukraine is not going to let the Crimean issue go until Kiev reestablishes control over the peninsula, he added.
However, there are also less optimistic assessments.
"US President Biden is not coming. US Vice President Harris is not coming. US Secretary of State Blinken is not coming. Deputy Secretary of State Nuland is not coming. They are sending Transportation Secretary Pete Buttidzic instead, which is a formality, and everyone is aware of that. The international defeat of the Office of the President in the international arena to promote the Crimean Platform summit demonstrates the fact that the strategy was chosen incorrectly," Ukrainian Telegram channel Legitimny wrote.
"Almost all leaders of the countries do not want to come to us, but they will send just formal representatives instead. Poland and the Baltic States do not count — this is a drop in the ocean,” the authors of the channel note adding that the Office of the President of Ukraine simply could not convince other countries of the need for the Crimean Platform summit.
Obviously, Ukraine is not going to simply shelve this project. Firstly, it was initiated by President Vladimir Zelensky. Secondly, the summit was conceived as a major event: the so-called inaugural summit would then spit into different levels with presidents and government chairs, foreign ministers, MPs participating in them accordingly.
Lastly, Kiev has spent so much time and effort to present this event as a notorious victory for Ukraine. Canceling it or at least lowering the status of the upcoming event would mean a humiliating defeat for Ukraine.