TARGET CRIMEA: Zelensky Ready to Cross Red Line

The U.S. has signaled publicly that it would approve an effort to retake the Crimean Peninsula

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station used a short lens to acquire this wide view of the diamond-shaped Crimean Peninsula that juts into the Black Sea, NASA said.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, still riding the wave of gushing media coverage in the West to mark the one-year anniversary of the war, took to Twitter on Sunday to promise an effort to retake Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

“9 years ago, Russian aggression began in Crimea. By returning Crimea, we will restore peace. This is our land. Our people. Our history. We will return the Ukrainian flag to every corner of Ukraine,” he tweeted.

TRENDPOST: Zelensky does not tweet anything without some kind of approval from the U.S., and we have reported extensively on how Washington is no longer opposed to Ukraine fighting for the territory. There is a general feeling that Russia will not be using tactical nuclear weapons despite the threats to defend its land with its entire arsenal. (See “U.S. UNDER SEC. VICTORIA ‘FUCK THE EU’ NULAND CALLS CRIMEA A LEGITIMATE TARGET FOR UKRAINE, ANGERS KREMLIN,” 21 Feb 2023, “SAYING RUSSIA WON’T GO NUKE, WEST TO HELP UKRAINE CONQUER CRIMEA,” 24 Jan 2023 and “UKRAINE’S FOREIGN MINISTER ADMITS BOMBING CRIMEA BRIDGE” 18 Oct 2022.)

Last month, Ukraine’s president Zelensky acknowledged his plans to try and seize the Crimean Peninsula, noting the servicemembers training abroad. (See “U.S. AT WAR WITH RUSSIA: TRAINING UKRAINIAN TROOPS IN AMERICA” 17 Jan 2023.)

He said these troops are being trained. 

“We’re taking military steps, we are preparing for them,” Zelensky said, according to RT, the Russian news outlet. “We are mentally prepared already. We prepare technically, with weapons, forces, we form new brigades, we form offensive units of various kinds and types, we are sending people for training not only in Ukraine, you know, but also in other countries.”

The report noted that Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and current deputy chair of the country’s Security Council, warned against attempting to take the peninsula, which is home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol. He said the attack would be interpreted as an attack on Russia and Moscow would respond “using weapons of any kind.”

Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” last Sunday that Ukraine will determine its conditions for peace.

“It’s for the United States to support Ukraine on the battlefield, so that they can achieve the victory that they define,” Sullivan said.

He dodged the question when asked flatly if the U.S. would support Zelensky’s attempt to retake Crimea. 

“The critical thing right now is that they need to take back the territory in the south and the east that they are currently focused on, and we need to give them the tools to be able to do that,” Sullivan said. “The question of Crimea, and the question of what happens down the road is something that we will come to,” he said. “Where we are right now, is that we need to be focused on the immediate term, because it is critical that we move fast and we move decisively to help them take back the territory across that line of contact that Russian troops are currently occupying.”

Zelensky said last year that Crimea is Ukrainian and the country would never give it up.

“This Russian war against Ukraine and the entire free Europe began with Crimea and must end with Crimea, with its liberation,” he said at the time.

TRENDPOST: The U.S. State Department issued a statement on Sunday that read: “Nine years ago, Russia invaded Ukraine and seized Crimea—a clear violation of international law and of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The United States welcomes the efforts of Ukraine’s Crimea Platform to focus global attention on Russia’s continued occupation. The United States does not and never will recognize Russia’s purported annexation of the peninsula. Crimea is Ukraine.”

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who was also on “Meet the Press” last week and said the Biden administration would do well to be clearer on its position.

“I think it should be all the territorial integrity of the entire country, which includes Crimea. And so yes, I think they need more clarity on that, and the national security adviser didn’t demonstrate it in his interview with you today,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan further proves our point that there is only one party in Washington: the War Party. Bipartisanship ends when it involves supporting instability and deaths in other countries to make sure your military-industrial donors are fed. Sullivan’s top donor is General Atomics, which develops drones and recently announced plans to send two of its Reaper drones to Ukraine for $1.