Russian President Putin recognizes separatist Eastern Ukrainian territories

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, February 21, 2022, recognized the independence of separatist regions in eastern Ukraine and paved the way for them to provide military aid – a direct challenge to the West that would fuel fears that Russia would invade Ukraine. Can do.

The cautious move, announced in the Kremlin, could lead to new sanctions on Russia and scuttling European efforts for a diplomatic solution to the escalating crisis, which has put East-West ties to a new low and jeopardized. The UK prime minister called it a “violation of international law”.

It came amid a spike in clashes in eastern regions that Western powers believe Russia could use as an excuse to attack Western-looking democracy that has pulled Moscow back into its orbit. Attempts have been rejected.

Putin accuses NATO

Mr Putin justified his decision in a far-reaching, pre-recorded speech blaming NATO for the current crisis and calling the US-led coalition a potential threat to Russia. Over a century of history, he portrayed today’s Ukraine as a modern construction inextricably linked to Russia. He alleged that Ukraine had inherited Russia’s historical lands and was used by the West to contain Russia after the Soviet collapse.

Ukrainians called the move meaningless, but eight years after fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces, it remains a fundamental blow to their country.

After his speech, Mr Putin signed decrees in the Kremlin recognizing the independence of those regions and called on lawmakers to approve measures that pave the way for military support.

So far, Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of supporting separatists, but Moscow has denied it, saying there were Russian volunteers fighting there.

European leaders had urged Mr Putin not to recognize the regions’ independence, and the EU foreign policy chief threatened possible sanctions if he did so. Ukraine’s president called an emergency meeting of top security officials.

According to the Kremlin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron voiced “disappointment at such developments” but “readiness to continue contact”.

At the last meeting of Mr Putin’s Security Council, a stream of top Russian officials argued for recognizing the independence of the separatist regions. At one point, one slipped and said he favored including them as part of Russian territory – but Mr Putin quickly corrected that.

With an estimated 150,000 Russian troops on three sides of Ukraine, the US has warned that Moscow has already decided to invade. Nevertheless, American and Russian presidents tentatively agreed to a possible meeting In a final attempt to escape the war.

If Russia moves forward, the meeting will be closed, but the prospect of a face-to-face summit raised hopes that diplomacy could prevent a devastating conflict that would result in massive casualties and huge economic damage across Europe, Which is heavily dependent on Russian energy.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels that, “if there is any recognition, I will put sanctions on the table and (EU) ministers will decide” whether to implement them. to agree or not.

Even as the diplomatic effort progressed, the potential flashpoints multiplied. Continuous shelling continued on Monday as well East of Ukraine. Unusually, Russia said it had blocked an “incursion” from Ukraine – which was denied by Ukrainian authorities. And Russia decided to prolong military exercises in Belarus, which could provide a stage for an attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

‘Identity request’

Earlier on Monday, leaders of separatist regions issued televised statements calling on Mr Putin to recognize him and sign treaties that would allow military aid to protect him from what he described as an ongoing Ukrainian military offensive. Russia’s lower house of parliament made the same argument last week.

Ukrainian officials denied launching the offensive and accused Russia of provocation.

Mr. Putin’s announcement shattered a 2015 peace deal signed in Minsk that required Ukrainian officials to offer a comprehensive self-rule in rebel areas, which marked a major diplomatic coup for Moscow.

The deal was opposed by many in Ukraine, who saw it as a surrender, a blow to the country’s integrity, and a betrayal of national interests. Putin and other officials argued on Monday that Ukrainian officials have shown no appetite to implement it.

With war likely, French President Emmanuel Macron scrambled to broker a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Mr Putin, who denied he was planning to attack Ukraine.

Russia says it wants Western guarantees that NATO will not allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members – and Mr Putin said on Monday that a simple moratorium on Ukraine’s accession would not suffice. Moscow has also called on the coalition to halt the deployment of weapons to Ukraine and withdraw its forces from Eastern Europe – demands that the West rejected outright. Mr Macron’s office said the two leaders “accepted the principle of such a summit,” which would be followed by a comprehensive meeting that would include other “relevant stakeholders to discuss security and strategic stability in Europe”. .

The language of Moscow and Washington was more cautious, but neither side denied that the meeting was under discussion. During the Kremlin meeting, several top officials expressed doubts about a possible summit, saying it was unlikely to yield any results.

Meanwhile, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration was always ready to negotiate to avert war, but was also ready to respond to any attack.

“So when President Macron asked President Biden yesterday if he was in principle ready to meet with President Putin if Russia didn’t invade, of course President Biden said yes,” he told NBC’s on Monday. Today” said on the show. “But the signs we see right now in terms of the nature of the Russian military are that they are actually getting ready for a major attack on Ukraine.”

Since Thursday, shelling has intensified along the tense line of contact that separates Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine’s eastern industrial region of Donbass. More than 14,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 2014, shortly after Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.

Ukraine and separatist rebels have blamed the massive ceasefire violations and hundreds of explosions are recorded daily. While Russia-backed separatists alleged that Ukrainian forces were firing on residential areas, Associated Press reporters reporting from several towns and villages along the line of contact in the Ukrainian occupied territory, but no notable ones from the Ukrainian side. Growth has not been observed and its signs have been documented. The separatists opened heavy fire, which destroyed houses and razed roads.

Some residents of the main rebel-held city of Donetsk described sporadic shelling by Ukrainian forces, but they said it was not on the same scale as the earlier conflict.

Separatist officials said on Monday that at least four civilians were killed and several others wounded in Ukrainian shelling in the past 24 hours. Ukraine’s military said two Ukrainian soldiers were killed over the weekend, and another soldier was wounded on Monday.

Ukraine’s military spokesman Pavlo Kovalchuk insisted that the Ukrainian military was not retaliated. Ekaterina Evseva, 60, in the village of Novognativka, part of the Ukrainian government-controlled part, said the shelling was worse than the height of fighting at the beginning of the conflict.

“We’re on the verge of a nervous breakdown. There’s nowhere to run,” she said, her voice trembling. In another worrying sign, the Russian military said it killed five suspected “saboteurs” who moved from Ukraine to Russia’s Rostov region and also destroyed two armored vehicles and captured a Ukrainian soldier. . Ukraine’s Border Guard spokesman Andrey Demchenko dismissed the claim as “malicious”.

Amid fears of escalating aggression, the US administration sent a letter to the UN human rights chief claiming that Moscow had prepared a list of Ukrainians to be killed or sent to detention camps after the invasion. The letter, first reported by the New York Times, was obtained by the AP.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the claim was false and no such list existed.