Kyiv is willing to discuss the future of Crimea with Moscow if its forces reach the border of the Russian-occupied peninsula, Andriy Sybiha, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told the Financial Times.
Ukrainian forces could be on Crimea’s doorstep in “5 to 7 months”. But some of Ukraine’s western allies fear Putin could resort to tactical nuclear weapons to defend the peninsula, whose status the Kremlin says is non-negotiable.
“Some of them are so afraid of Ukraine approaching the administrative border of Crimea that they are directly or indirectly trying to postpone this moment,” said Alyona Getmanchuk, director at the New Europe Centre, a Kyiv-based think-tank.
She added that concern was so high about fighting over Crimea escalating that it affected some allies’ “decisions on what kind of weapons to supply Ukraine with and at what speed”.
Getmanchuk also said the Ukrainian leadership felt “that after a successful counteroffensive [in the rest of the country] Putin might be eager to talk”.
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