Crimea and today's global conflicts

Representatives of parliamentary assemblies from 70 countries of the world gathered in Prague for the 'Crimea Platform'. It is becoming increasingly clear that what began in 2014 is no longer a regional problem, but a conflict whose solution must be found all together. So that it can truly be the beginning of a different world.

Prague (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The "Crimean Platform" underway in Prague, with the representation of 70 parliamentary assemblies from all over the world, reminds everyone of what, in almost ten years since the occupation and annexation of the peninsula on the Black Sea to Russia, many have already managed to forget. The events of 2014 were in fact the beginning of the era of global conflicts, in which we are increasingly involved in many dimensions.

The West's reaction to the annexation of Crimea was rather cautious, and the first sanctions against Russia were decided only after the first clashes in Donbass, an attitude that the Ukrainian publicist Vitaly Portnikov defines as "classic impunity", also considering that the sanctions were only personal, against "certain officials", encouraging other states to carry out similar actions without risking too much.

We have thus passed, almost without realizing it, into a completely different era, in which no one seeks diplomatic solutions to crises, and military force is responded to with economic pressure. Latent and “frozen” conflicts can ignite at any time and from any part of the world, as demonstrated by the wars in the Southern Caucasus and the Middle East, and everywhere they take on global characteristics: not only Russia against Ukraine, but East against West, “ Global West” versus “Global South”, Palestine and Israel as a clash of civilisations, religions and cultures.

Portnikov observes that “we ended up in the dead end of civilizations”, starting from the feeble attempts to “find a common language with Russia” even as Moscow demonstratively and arrogantly trampled on all the norms of international law. It was naively thought that Vladimir Putin would be satisfied with the "sacred Crimea", and by letting him take it everything would be easily settled, with some fines-sanctions for the president's friends.

The increase in representation at the Platform clearly indicates that it is no longer a regional problem, but all countries are becoming aware of global involvement, and that the solution must be found all together. It is now clear that we cannot return to the situation before 2014, and the Ukrainians themselves are the first to recognize this. The "new global order" evoked by Putin and Xi Jinping in Beijing is a necessity also recognized by Joe Biden in Washington, and Crimea was the signal that the old one, established after the Second World War, was over.

All participants reiterated that the use of force is not acceptable anywhere, and aggression is to be avoided in any way. In addition to the many victims, buildings, homes, cultural and social objectives are destroyed, and irreparable damage is inflicted on the environment. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj assured that the Russian military fleet is no longer able to operate in the western part of the Black Sea, and is progressively withdrawing from Crimea: "it is a historic success", he said.

The president of the Verkhovnaja Rada of Kiev, Ruslan Stefanchuk, in anticipation of the possibility of re-establishing Ukrainian sovereignty on the peninsula, invited all participants to contribute to "forming a foreign policy of democratic countries that is capable of using all the tools for re-establishment of peace, to ensure justice for the victims and irrevocable punishment for the guilty". It is the "peace formula" proposed by Ukraine in the 10 points illustrated several times by Zelenskyj, which should be realized starting from Crimea, the first occupied land, and the first which after liberation will have to show the face of a different world.

• Russia
• Ukraine
• Crimea
• war
• Putin
• Zelensky