Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he’ll not consider his country the winner of a 16-month war with Russia so long as Moscow keeps Crimea.
“We cannot imagine Ukraine without Crimea. And when Crimea is under Russian occupation, it means just one thing: the war is not over yet,” Zelensky, 45, told CNN over the weekend.
Pressed on the query of whether there could possibly be a “victory and peace” scenario where Crimea is not a part of Ukraine, the former actor and comedian stated: “There will likely be no victory there.”
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 after widespread protests led to the overthrow and exile of pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Prior to the annexation of Russia, condemned by the United States and its allies, the strategic Black Sea Peninsula had been a part of Ukraine since 1954.
Western nations imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its takeover of Crimea and expelled it from the Group of Eight Nations, now referred to as the Group of Seven.
![Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013457761.jpg?w=1024)
Russia has held a firm grip on the peninsula ever since, despite Ukraine’s efforts to limit water supplies and undermine Moscow’s control.
Seemingly buoyed by Ukraine’s good performance on the battlefield against Russia, Zelensky has maintained that the liberation of Crimea is the key to ending the war.
Ukraine claims to have recorded some territorial gains because it continues its counter-offensive.
Last month, the Russian military was thrown into chaos when the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ordered his forces to march on Moscow.
![A Russian drone attacked Kyiv over the weekend](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013491727-1.jpg?w=1024)
![Smoke rises from a fuel tank after an alleged drone strike in Sevastopol, Crimea, April 29, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000010988420.jpg?w=1024)
![Russian tank under fire near Bakhmut](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013492118.jpg?w=1024)
The revolt was organized in apparent protest against the Defense Ministry’s plans to integrate the paramilitary group into the regular army, and followed Prigozhin’s allegations that a Russian strike had killed a few of his troops.
Ultimately, Prigozhin reached an agreement with the Kremlin, mediated by Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and canceled the march on Moscow. He then accepted apparent exile in a neighboring country.
“We see Putin’s response. He’s weak,” Zelensky mused about the failed coup. “First, we see that he doesn’t control the whole lot. Wagner moves deep into Russia, and taking certain regions shows how easy it’s to do. Putin does not control the situation in the region.
“His entire army is in Ukraine,” added the Ukrainian leader. “We understand that Putin does not control regional policy and does not control all the people in the region. So all that vertical power he had just fell apart.
![Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talks to CNN.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013540411.jpg?w=1024)
Zelensky also assumed that Putin “is not full[y] control all processes” in the Russian army, especially in relation to privates.
The Ukrainian leader also expressed his dissatisfaction with reports revealing that he they met last month with CIA Director William Burns.
“I used to be surprised to see information in some media, each in the American and Ukrainian and European media. My communication with the head of the CIA should at all times be behind the scenes… because we’re discussing essential things,” he said.
![Ukrainian mortar fire near Bakhmut](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013524229.jpg?w=1024)
![Ukrainian armored personnel carrier.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013469041.jpg?w=1024)
![Ukrainian soldier at the front in Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013534640.jpg?w=1024)
“We’ve got no secrets from the CIA because we have now relationship and our services confer with one another.”
Washington Post reported last week that Burns had been told by Ukrainian officials that Kiev hoped to regain Russian-occupied territory in eastern and southeastern Ukraine before starting ceasefire negotiations with the Kremlin by the end of this 12 months.
CNN is scheduled to air a full interview with Zelensky on Wednesday.