Occupation of Crimea, Donbas has created ‘eco-bombs’: Ukrainian president

By Talha Yavuz

KYIV, Ukraine (AA) - Russia’s occupation of Crimea and part of Donbas has created “eco-bombs” in the center of Europe, Ukraine's president said Monday.

Volodymyr Zelensky was speaking at the 26th edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland.

Noting that Ukraine was one of the first countries in Europe to sign the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, he said his country’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030.

Zelensky stressed that to overcome global warming, a "global warming" is required in international relations, where confidence decreases a little more every year, noting that agreements become meaningless for some if they consist of only words.

Recalling that the country received unfulfilled security guarantees in 1994, Zelensky said "two ecological bombs fell on the center of Europe -- Donbas and occupied Crimea."

Zelensky noted that Crimea, with its unique flora, has turned into a Russian naval base and some areas of conflict-ridden Donbas have become strewn with mines, which pose a threat to the whole world.

In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, a move widely viewed as illegal by the international community, including Turkey and the UN.

Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in Donbas has seen more than 13,000 people killed since 2014, according to the UN.

*Writing by Merve Berker