"Crimea will remain Russian", declared US President Trump, thus defining the framework for the peace talks initiated by the US. What do the Crimean Tatars think about this?
"The "peace plan" of US President Donald Trump implies the recognition of the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea as Russian territory. What do the Crimean Tatars, the indigenous population of the peninsula, think about this issue?
"Our people will fight for their right to live on their own lands"
"Our struggle will continue. "We know very well what Russia is like - the successor to the Soviet Union, which once deported my mother and grandmother," says a local resident, who requested anonymity. "We returned to our homeland only after half a century and we will not leave it again. We will wait here for the return of Ukrainian state power," she adds.
"Our people fought for the right to live on their own lands. That is why this fight will continue, whatever the political situation," says another resident of the peninsula, who also wishes to remain anonymous. She recalls that repressions against the indigenous population began back in Tsarist Russia. Then, in 1944, the Soviet authorities deported the Crimean Tatars to Central Asia. They were allowed to return to their homeland only in the 1990s, but in 2014 Crimea again fell under Russian occupation, many Crimean Tatars were persecuted for their pro-Ukrainian position and were forced to leave the peninsula.
"Today, many fear that if Ukraine recognizes the occupied territories as Russian, many lives will be sacrificed in vain in defense of Ukrainian independence and statehood," the Crimean Tatar also told DW. According to her, the peace treaty currently being discussed will legalize territorial concessions in favor of Russia. Then people in the occupied territories could become political prisoners, as Russian law would apply there, she points out.
"We counted on the US as a bastion of democracy"
The debate about handing over the territory to Russia "naturally causes a negative reaction in both the mind and the heart", says Nariman Jellyal, first deputy speaker of the Mejlis and a former political prisoner. "During the occupation of Crimea and Russian aggression, we counted on the US, which most Ukrainians and some Crimeans perceived as a leader in protecting human rights and a bastion of democracy. And now we see a complete reversal - such commercial pragmatism, "he criticizes.
Since April 2016, the Central Executive Body of the Crimean Tatars, the Mejlis, has been classified in Russia as an "extremist organization", which is why it is banned.
Dzhelal refers to the principled position 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 like declarations of non-recognition of the annexation of Crimea and the desire for its reintegration into Ukraine are the most important link between our people and the free territory of Ukraine," explains the former political prisoner. "If Kiev agrees to the proposal of Trump and his representatives, this relationship will be severed," he warns.
"Peninsula of Fear"
"Our people will never trust the Russian Empire," says Seydamet Mustafayev, a refugee from Crimea who speaks about the "peninsula of fear". "I can't imagine a peace agreement with Vladimir Putin. I have always been a pacifist and I want to live in peace. But I don't understand how you can negotiate with a person whose ultimate goal is the destruction of Ukrainian identity," he emphasizes in an interview with DW.
Mustafayev wants the Russian-Ukrainian war to end with the liberation of Crimea, just as it began with the occupation of the peninsula. The conclusion of a peace agreement containing territorial concessions will inevitably lead to a world war, he believes.
"I'm not fighting for this"
The Crimean Tatars among the Ukrainian soldiers, whom DW spoke to, are of the opinion that the conditions for ending the war largely depend on Ukraine. A fighter, whose nickname is "Tatarin", believes that no one can force Ukraine to make territorial concessions.
"Ukraine now has an army that stopped Russian troops in 2022 and destroyed their potential. Now it is fighting not only thanks to American weapons, but also its own," he stressed. Recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea would set a dangerous precedent that could trigger armed conflicts over territorial claims around the world. "You can give up everything, but not your own country. I am not fighting for this," emphasizes "Tatarin".
"The agreement does not mean a renunciation of principles"
"Sovereignty, territorial integrity and the rights of Ukrainians under occupation are not subject to negotiation," emphasizes Tamila Tasheva, a deputy in the Ukrainian parliament and permanent representative of the Ukrainian president in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea from 2022 to 2024.
"Recognition of Crimea as Russian would mean not only a renunciation of territory, but also erasing the persecutions, arrests and deportations that Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars had to endure on the peninsula," she commented to DW.
According to her, a fair peace agreement must be based on international law, and realistic agreements do not necessarily mean a renunciation of principles - they could also allow for a gradual process. "We are ready for dialogue to find solutions, but we will never recognize the occupation as something normal", assures Tasheva.