France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy has stirred outrage in Kyiv and Paris by suggesting Russia's invasion of Ukraine could be ended with new referendums in occupied territories, reports FRANCE 24.
"The Ukrainians... will want to reconquer what has been unjustly taken from them. But if they can't manage it completely, the choice will be between a frozen conflict... or taking the high road out with referendums strictly overseen by the international community," Sarkozy told conservative newspaper Le Figaro on Wednesday.
Speaking particularly about the Crimean peninsula, which Russia claimed to have annexed in 2014, the former French leader said that "any return to the way things were before is an illusion".
"An incontestable referendum... will be needed to solidify the current state of affairs," he added.
The ex-president insisted that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was "not irrational" and could be reached with the right kind of diplomacy from Europe, harking back to Moscow's 2008 invasion of Georgia when Sarkozy said he "convinced (Putin) to withdraw his tanks".