Russia deliberately silences Crimea issue to make world accept occupation as settled – Crimean Tatar leader

 Refat Chubarov, head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, stated this on Espreso TV.

"This is the aggressor state's tactic: in recent years, wherever they talk about Ukrainian territories, they only mention four regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, the parts they have occupied — while deliberately keeping silent about Crimea. Our task is not to let them do this, because they want the whole world to get used to the idea that, when it comes to Crimea, the issue has long been settled — by default, as they say. But both we and Ukraine, along with our partners, must not allow this," he said.

Chubarov stressed the importance of keeping the issue of temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories on the agenda.

"And here, by the way, the role of Ukrainian politicians and society is very important — and accordingly, the media will broadcast it — so that we constantly talk about our occupied territories, about their fate in connection with each other. We must talk about all territories, not accept the narrative parameters set by the Russian side," the head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People added.

Trump–Putin meeting: background

On August 8, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine would involve some territorial exchanges.

Later, the American president announced that he would meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, August 15.

Before the Trump–Putin meeting, senior officials from the U.S., Ukraine, and European countries are expected to hold talks to coordinate joint positions.

The media also reported that Volodymyr Zelenskyy might join the U.S. leader’s meeting with the Russian leader. However, at a briefing on August 11, Trump noted that he would meet with Putin first, and afterward, there might be a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, or all three together.

European diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas said that Putin wants to imitate negotiations and delay sanctions at the meeting with Trump.

On August 12, Zelenskyy stated that the upcoming meeting between U.S. leader Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska could only be important for bilateral relations between the two countries — they cannot make decisions regarding Ukraine.

At the same time, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk commented on Trump’s words about a “territorial swaps” with Russia, emphasizing that this would be impossible even through a referendum.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stated that the meeting between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will take place in Anchorage, Alaska.