Khodorkovsky gave the Mejlis members a cold shower: the issue of Crimea is not important for the Russian opposition
If the liberal opposition comes to power in the Russian Federation, the issue of Crimea's ownership will be resolved as the Crimeans want.
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Russian opposition politician Mikhail Khodorkovsky stated this in a Facebook correspondence with the Deputy General Director of the Crimean Tatar TV channel ATR, which is close to the Mejlis, Aider Muzhdabaev.
According to Khodorkovsky, the issue of the future of Crimea is not important and paramount for Russian society.
Muzhdabaev asked Khodorkovsky on Facebook whether the programmatic documents of his Open Russia movement included a clause on returning Crimea to Ukraine and restoring its internationally recognized borders.
“I understand your desire for the main issue for Russian society to be the issue of Crimea, and the only solution is its return to Ukraine. But that's not true. Russian society wants to solve other problems. To solve them, we unite, despite differences on many issues that society considers of secondary importance. The solution in the event of a victory of democratic forces can only be through a democratic procedure or war. We all don’t need war,” the politician replied.
To a clarifying question whether the Russian oppositionists, in the event of a hypothetical coming to power, would insist on maintaining Crimea under the control of the Russian Federation, or demand from Ukraine negotiations and concessions on the Crimean issue, Khodorkovsky responded as follows:
“The democratic government will work with society and Ukraine, trying to find a compromise. There will be no decisions contrary to the position of citizens. And, as far as I know, the reasonable majority in Ukraine will not provoke a conflict on this issue either. Let Crimeans build their lives as they want.”