Mr. Poroshenko wants to "exchange" Crimea to become a NATO member?
Former Georgian president and ex-governor of the Odessa region, Mikhail Saakashvili, says that Ukrainian President Piotr Poroshenko wanted membership of the European Union and NATO in exchange for Crimea in 2014.
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| Ukraine. Illustration photo |
"I spoke with Poroshenko and he told me: you have really got used to the idea that South Ossetia and Abkhazia will never return to Georgia, in the same way we have to get used to the idea that Ukraine will not have Crimea - but we will trade it for membership in the European Union and NATO," Saakashvili said in an interview with journalist Dmitry Gordon, the video of which was posted on the journalist's YouTube channel.
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| Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili |
At the same time, Mr. Saakashvili expressed confidence that Ukraine's loss of Crimea could mean that Kiev would not be able to join the EU or NATO because of the territorial conflict.
Saakashvili entered Ukrainian politics in the spring of 2015, when Poroshenko appointed him governor of the Odessa region, having previously granted him citizenship. However, in November 2016, Piotr Poroshenko fired Saakashvili, accusing him of failing to keep his promises, and in July 2017 stripped the former Georgian president of his Ukrainian citizenship.
