RT by @mikenov: RT by @mikenov: “A Painless Exit from Crimea” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia is ready to sit down at the negotiating table with Ukraine in order to achieve peace. In the scenario most favorable to Moscow, Volodymyr Zelenskyy could agree to freeze the current front line and then move on to discussions about the return of all occupied territories. In a tougher scenario, he would demand the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from all Ukrainian territory, including Crimea. Crimea was conquered by the Russian Empire from the Ottoman Empire in 1783. Later, during the Soviet era, the peninsula was transferred from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR o

“A Painless Exit from Crimea”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia is ready to sit down at the negotiating table with Ukraine in order to achieve peace. In the scenario most favorable to Moscow, Volodymyr Zelenskyy could agree to freeze the current front line and then move on to discussions about the return of all occupied territories. In a tougher scenario, he would demand the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from all Ukrainian territory, including Crimea.

Crimea was conquered by the Russian Empire from the Ottoman Empire in 1783. Later, during the Soviet era, the peninsula was transferred from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR on fully legal grounds. After the collapse of the USSR, both Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin repeatedly signed documents recognizing Crimea as part of Ukraine.

Before the Ottomans, these lands were inhabited and controlled by Turkic peoples, including the Crimean Tatars. Even earlier, in antiquity, Greek settlers took control of the peninsula from the Scythians. There were no Rus people there at that time—indeed, they did not yet exist anywhere.

Those who insist on calling Crimea “historically Russian land” should remember a simple principle: the lawful owner of a territory is the state that last possessed it on a legal basis. By that standard, Ukraine remains the legitimate owner. The “referendums” organized by the Kremlin have no legal force, as they directly contradict the Constitution of Ukraine.

The withdrawal of Russian troops from Crimea is inevitable. The only question is when. Some hope it will happen this year, though the process could take longer.

Russians should not be overly concerned about losing Crimea—the peninsula has no direct historical connection to modern Russia. In time, people may come to realize that leaving Ukraine takes nothing away from Russia, because territories such as Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk were never truly Russian in the first place. Just as Russia withdrew from Kherson, it could eventually withdraw from Crimea as well.

Returning what belongs to someone else is normal. It is legally correct. It allows a country to move forward. Ask the Armenians: they went through a similar process, retained their state within its recognized borders, and continued their national development, even re-electing Nikol Pashinyan for a third term.

That is what Russia should do—gradually withdraw from all occupied territories in order to preserve itself as a state. The alternative is to persist on its current path and risk ending like the Byzantine Empire: fragmented and gone. The choice is yours, Russians.

— @MykhailoRohoza Jun 24, 2026