Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reaffirmed his country's sovereignty over Crimea during an international conference on the status of the Black Sea peninsula.
"I would like you all to know that we will return in any event," Zelensky said. He accused parts of the international community of blotting out the 2014 Russian annexation.
"A place of paradise was turned into a depressive and dependent region – into a region of high fences, barbed wire and lawlessness," he said.
To Ukrainians, Crimea was not just a piece of territory, Zelensky said. "For Ukraine, Crimea is part of our people, part of our society."
Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine would recapture its annexed peninsula of Crimea from Russia by any means it deemed right, and that it would not consult other countries before doing so.
Zelensky made the comments at a news conference in Kyiv after the leaders of dozens of countries and international organisations took part - most of them by video - in Crimea Platform, a forum hosted by Ukraine.
Ukraine will not agree to any proposal to freeze the current frontlines in its conflict with Russia in order to "calm" Moscow, Zelensky said.
He also urged the world not to show fatigue with the war, saying this would pose a big threat to the whole world.
