President Maia Sandu was decorated on Monday, August 23, 2021, by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski, it is mentioned in an official communiqué of the Presidency of Ukraine.

This happened after the first summit of the Crimea Platform, where the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenski thanked the international officials who attended the event for their support of Ukraine and awarded them high state awards.

President Sandu received the Order of the first degree of “Prince Yaroslav the Wise”. The award was also given to other heads of state and senior officials who attended the event – Polish President Andrzej Duda, Hungarian President Janos Ader, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, Latvian President Egils Levits, European Council President Charles Michel, President Lituan Naitu the President of Finland Sauli Niinistö, the President of Slovenia Borut Pahor and the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis.

The second-degree “Prince Yaroslav the Wise” order was awarded to Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.

At the same time, Florin Cîțu, the Prime Minister of Romania, was decorated by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski with the Order of the first degree “For Merit”. Similar distinctions went to the prime ministers of Georgia, Slovakia, and Croatia, but also to the president of the National Council of the Swiss Confederation Andreas Aebi.

On Monday, August 23, 2021, at the initiative of Ukraine, the Summit “Crimean Platform” took place, which brought together in Kyiv representatives from 46 states. A final declaration was adopted at the event, condemning the occupation and militarization of the Russian-annexed peninsula in 2014.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zaharova, quoted by Tass, described the Ukrainian initiative as populism.

“Moscow is forced to consider the participation of countries and international organizations in the summit of the Crimean Platform as a violation of Russia’s territorial integrity,” the Russian official said.