More than 60 participants joined this year's international summit of Crimea Platform, including 16 leaders from all continents; notably, Panama participated for the first time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
"Today, there are over 60 participants here, including 16 leaders from every continent, and Panama is participating for the first time – we are very happy to see you – as well as Trinidad and Tobago; the delegation is constantly growing, and today it is the strongest it has ever been in the history of Crimea Platform," Zelenskyy said at the Crimea Platform summit on Wednesday.
The president said Ukraine wants Russia to be held accountable for its crimes against people who are under temporary occupation and are being held in prisons and camps in Russia.
According to the head of state, the Crimea Platform unites people who understand that there is still hope, and "this matters today not only in a moral sense."
"The world is grappling with a cost-of-living crisis, with a staggering rise in energy and food prices – all of this inevitably brings us back to Crimea, because that is where it all began many years ago, in 2014, to be precise," Zelenskyy said.
"Our Crimea is at the center of Putin's activities and all the crises stemming from the hostilities in the Black Sea. If Russia hadn't stolen Crimea, if Putin hadn't turned Crimea into a source of war and a massive military base in Ukraine, diesel fuel and oil would now be moving freely across the Black Sea, just as they did before Putin's war against us," the president said.
