Zelensky pledges to restore Ukrainian rule over Crimea

The president told an international conference that retaking the peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, would represent a 'resuscitation of world law and order', reports Rory Sullivan

- Rory Sullivan

Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to restore Ukrainian rule over Russia-annexed Crimea, a move that he said would help reestablish "world law and order".Ukraine's president told an international conference on Crimea that regaining control of the peninsula, which was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014, would be the "biggest anti-war step". Most of the world still recognises Crimea as part of Ukraine.

"It all began with Crimea, and it will end with Crimea," Mr Zelensky said in an opening address to the Crimea Platform, a forum that seeks to restore Ukraine's territorial integrity and end Russia's annexation of the peninsula. "And this is true, and I believe in it 100 per cent, that to overcome terror - to return guarantees and security to our region, to Europe, to the whole world - it is necessary to gain victory in the fight against Russian aggression," the Ukrainian leader said.

"It is necessary to liberate Crimea from occupation," he added. "This will be the resuscitation of world law and order."