President Volodymyr Zelenskiy declared his readiness to consider the possibility of a non-military return of Crimea to Ukraine, urging not to waste time on options that do not involve deoccupation of the peninsula. He said this in an interview with the Financial Times.

 "I understand that everyone is confused by the situation and what will happen to Crimea. If someone is ready to offer us a way to de-occupy Crimea by non-military means, I will only be in favor. (…) If the decision (does not involve) de-occupation, and Crimea is part of the Russian Federation, no one should waste their time on it," Zelenskiy said.

 According to him, such a decision is a "waste of time." Zelenskiy also stated that the fate of Crimea is on the international agenda.

 At the same time, the publication reports that as Ukrainian troops advance in the south and east of the country, Ukraine's military goals have become more rigid: it seeks to return all territories not under its control since the beginning of the Russian offensive in 2014.

 "Some Western partners are concerned that any attempt by Ukraine to return Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014 and which it considers critical to its security, could lead to a dangerous escalation by Moscow, possibly even to the use of nuclear weapons," the statement said. publications .

 At the same time, Zelenskiy emphasized that Ukraine "must return all lands."

 "I believe that the battlefield is the way when there is no diplomacy. If you can't get your land back completely, then the war just freezes. It is a matter of time when it will be restored," he said.

 In response, the spokesman of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmytro Peskov, stated that Ukraine has not abandoned its position on the return of Crimea by force.

 "De facto Ukraine has not given up on this, for us it is nothing more than a discussion of the topic of alienation of the territories of the Russian Federation, there can be no other understanding here, there is no question of this," RIA Novosti reports his words.

 Peskov also called the interpretation of Zelenskiy's statements in the context of his readiness to deal with this topic "not by military means, but by peaceful negotiations" incorrect.

 "Such statements once again speak of the unwillingness, unwillingness and inability of the Ukrainian side to be ready to settle the problem by non-military methods," the speaker said.