DISINFO: Crimean Platform summit was anything but Crimean
SUMMARY
The Crimean Platform is a closed circle from where it should not be leaked how unnecessary this event is. This is why participation in the event was denied to a Crimean himself.
RESPONSE
This is an emerging disinformation narrative spread by pro-Kremlin media outlets in response to the Crimean Platform Summit, a high-level international conference held in August 2021 that was initiated by Ukraine and focused on Russia's illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula.
In order to channel and maintain international support for the non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea in early 2014, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initiated the Crimean Platform, an international diplomatic forum. Held on August 23 in Ukraine, the Crimean Platform was formed to create a coalition of countries to support the de-occupation of Crimea and Ukraine's territories in the Black Sea and the Azov Sea.
Altogether, 45 foreign governmental delegations took part in the summit, including the United States, all member states of the European Union, and Great Britain. While the disinformation piece above claims that the summit cannot be considered Crimean, the Kremlin's move to exercise control over the peninsula remains largely unrecognised by the international community, as shown by the participants of the Crimean Platform. Moreover, local civil society organisations and minority rights organisations fully endorsed the initiative.
See further cases of pro-Kremlin disinformation involving Crimea here.