As part of his “peace plan,” US President Donald Trump is ready to recognize the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea permanently as Russian territory. In Ukraine, DW spoke to representatives of the Crimean Tatars, the original inhabitants of the peninsula, to find out what they think.
‘Our fight will go on’
“We know all too well what Russia is like. It is a successor to the Soviet Union, which once deported my mother and grandmother,” says a woman who now lives in Crimea and wishes to remain anonymous. “It took us half a century to return to our homeland and we will not leave again. We will wait here for the return of the Ukrainian state.”
“Our people have fought for the right to live on their own land. That’s why this fight will go on, regardless of the political situation,” says another resident of the peninsula, who also wishes to remain anonymous. She points out that the oppression of the indigenous population began with the conquest of Crimea by Tsarist Russia.
It continued under the Soviets after the Russian Revolution and in 1944, the Crimean Tatars were deported to Central Asia. They were only allowed to return to their homeland in the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and after receiving permission from Ukraine, which had gained independence. In 2014, Crimea came under Russian occupation again and many Crimean Tatars were persecuted for their pro-Ukrainian stance and forced to leave their homeland.
At the time, the second anonymous woman says, the Crimean Tatars were disappointed that the Ukrainian government had not fought “to keep the peninsula as part of Ukraine.” Today, she says she would be relieved if a political decision were to end the daily deaths from the war in Ukraine. “On the other hand, many believe that if Ukraine were to recognize the occupied territories as Russian, all those lives would have been sacrificed in vain in defense of Ukrainian independence and statehood.”
In her view, the peace treaty currently under discussion would legitimize territorial concessions to Russia. She fears that people in the occupied territories could then become political prisoners because Russian legislation would apply there.
‘We counted on the US as a bulwark of democracy’
The debate about ceding territory to Russia “of course triggers a negative reaction both in the mind and in the heart,” says Nariman Dzhelyal, first deputy chairman of the Mejlis, the representative body of the Crimean Tatars, and a former political prisoner. “Throughout the years of the occupation of Crimea and Russian aggression, we have relied on the United States. In the minds of most Ukrainians and certain residents of Crimea, the US has always been a leader in protecting human rights and a bastion of democracy. And now we are experiencing a U-turn, such commercial pragmatism,” he says. As the central executive body of the Crimean Tatars, the Mejlis has been classified as an “extremist organization” and banned by the Russian Federation since April 2016.
Dzhelyal notes the principled stance of the Ukrainian government, which refuses to recognize Crimea as Russian. “Ukraine can actually do little for the local population. That is why symbolic things such as declarations that it will not recognize the annexation of Crimea and wants to reintegrate it into Ukraine are the most important link between our people and the free territory of Ukraine,” explains the former political prisoner. “Agreeing to the proposal by Trump and his representatives would sever this link.”
‘Peninsula of fear’
“Our people will never trust the Russian empire,” says Seydamet Mustafayev, a refugee from Crimea, who speaks of a ‘peninsula of fear.’
“I don’t see any peace agreement with Vladimir Putin. I have always been a pacifist and want to live in peace. But I don’t understand how you can negotiate with this person when his goal is to destroy Ukrainian identity,” he tells DW.
Mustafayev hopes that the Russian-Ukrainian war will end with the liberation of Crimea, just as it began with the occupation of the peninsula. He believes that a peace agreement involving territorial concessions would inevitably lead to a world war.
‘I’m not fighting for that’
For the Crimean Tatars among the Ukrainian soldiers DW spoke to, the conditions for an end to the war largely hinge on Ukraine. A soldier nicknamed “Tataryn” says that no one can pressure Ukraine into making territorial concessions. “Ukraine now has an army that stopped the Russian army in 2022 and destroyed its potential. It is now fighting not only thanks to American weapons, but also with its own,” he says, adding that recognizing the Russian annexation of Crimea would set a dangerous precedent that could trigger armed conflicts over territorial claims worldwide. “You can give up everything, but not your own country. I’m not fighting for that.”
‘Agreement does not mean ditching principles’
“The sovereignty, territorial integrity and rights of Ukrainians under occupation are non-negotiable,” insists Tamila Tasheva, a member of the Ukrainian parliament. She was the permanent representative of the president of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea from 2022 to 2024. “Recognizing Crimea as Russian would not only mean giving up the territory, but also denying the experience of persecution, arrest and deportation that Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars have endured on the peninsula,” she tells DW.
In her opinion, a fair peace agreement would be based on international law. However, a “realistic agreement,” she says, would not necessarily mean giving up on principles, but could be a gradual process. “We are ready for dialogue to seek solutions, but we will never recognize the occupation as normality.”
This article was originally written in Ukranian.
