Askold Lozynskyj
In many instances the lying is a result of ignorance. Trump watches television, but he does not read much and very often assumes the credibility and accuracy of his last adviser. Bear in mind that his advisers are chosen by him, essentially based on fealty. Assuming that the advisor is someone as poorly versed in world politics as Steve Witkoff, it’s no wonder that Trump has no clue as to Crimea.
His arguments for suggesting American recognition of Crimea as a part of Russia are two fold: Crimea has historically been Russia and Ukraine gave away Crimea to Russia in 2014. Both arguments are specious. Trump is not simply lying as is his norm because frankly he has no reason to know the history of Crimea except that presidents of important countries should learn the facts before speaking.
Crimea historically is neither Russian nor Ukrainian. Russia’s initial connection to Crimea took place only under Czarina Catherine II of Russia who simply conquered it in 1783 like most of the territory of today’s Russian Federation. Until that date there was no Russia-Crimea connection. Today’s RF is an amalgam of militarily conquered territory.
Kyiv’s connection with Crimea is significantly older, and more benign, in fact dating back to the IX century based on trade. The Kyivan Prince Volodymyr who baptized the people of Kyiv and surrounding areas in 988 was himself baptized in Chersonesos, originally a Greek colony, then belonging to the Byzantine empire. Chersonesos (Sevastopol) is in Crimea.
Until the Russian invasion of 1783 it belonged to the Mongol Golden Horde, then the Ottoman Empire and ultimately the Crimean Khanate.
By 1975, at the time of the Helsinki Accords which is considered the timeline for the determination of borders, Crimea was a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. And so it was in 1991 when the Ukrainian SSR became Ukraine and the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic became the Russian Federation.
In December 1994 the Russian Federation provided security assurances to Ukraine including inviolability of borders pursuant to the Budapest Memorandum, when Ukraine voluntarily gave up its nuclear arsenal. In 1997 Ukraine and the RF signed a friendship treaty which further recognized existing borders.
Vladimir Putin came to power as President of Russia succeeding Boris Yeltsin in 2000. In the first few years he worked to crush the Chechen uprising in the RF. But by 2004 he turned his attention to Ukraine by manipulating presidential elections to elect his surrogate Viktor Yanukovich. The Ukrainian people responded with a revolution (the Orange Revolution). Yanukovich was out.
Putin had to relinquish power in the RF briefly to his surrogate (Medvedev), but worked to rehabilitate Yanukovich in Ukraine setting the stage for the next election in 2010. Putin managed
to insert his surrogate, Victor Yanukovich, as Ukraine’s president in February 2010, not unlike Lukashenka in Belarus. If there was any doubt as to Yanukovich’s allegiance, that was clarified within two months. In April 2010 Yanukovich as President of Ukraine extended Russia’s fleet lease in Sevastopol, Crimea for an additional twenty-five years.
Yanukovich continued to serve his master well. In 2013, he declined Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. This resulted in a second revolution (Revolution of Dignity). Yanukovich was forced to flee Kyiv. However, by that time he had managed to deplete the Ukrainian military.
In February 2014 when Russia surreptitiously took over Crimea with “little green men with no insignia” Ukraine had only six thousand able men in its military. There was no way for Ukraine to fight back. Additionally, President Obama told the Ukrainians that there would be no Western support.
Russia’s war against Ukraine began not in 2014. It began in 2004. Actually, it never stopped since the XVII century. I certainly do not expect Donald J. Trump with a bachelor’s degree in real estate to know or understand the historical facts. That would require some serious reading. Bloviating requires less.
April 26, 2025