Now that Russia believes that the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions are independent, it can use this as an excuse to infiltrate the territories ruled by Ukraine militarily and expand the war.
Russian presidential Vladimir Putin according to the Minsk agreement has died and was killed by the Ukrainian authorities. On Tuesday, he also said Russia would recognize the expanded borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, according to Reuters.
Extended borders, according to Reuters, refer to the administrative boundaries of areas occupied by Russian-backed separatists that extend beyond the borders of the hotline. According to Reuters, a significant part of the administrative areas of Donetsk and Luhansk are under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces.
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto (Green) commented briefly on the border issue at his press conference on Tuesday, in which he set out Sanctions against Russia agreed by EU foreign ministers. According to Haavisto, the recognition of wider borders could lead to a military confrontation between Russia and Ukraine.
“Finland, of course, condemns Russia’s unilateral actions and also sees it as a very big problem that these areas have apparently been recognized in their entirety on the Russian side,” Haavisto said.
“In other words, this could also lead to a military confrontation with Ukrainian forces if Russian forces continue beyond that line of contact in the area, which is currently also monitored and followed by the OSCE operation.”
Haavisto’s press conference can be viewed in its entirety below:
In the past, it has been unclear on what borders Russia recognizes the independence of the separatist regions. For example, on Tuesday afternoon, a spokesman for Russia’s foreign ministry said Russia’s Russian news agency RIA Novost said Russia would recognize the people’s republics on the borders controlled by the leaders of those regions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Russia, for its part, said that Russia recognizes the independence of the separatist republics in the territories in which they declared independence. However, according to the leader of the Russian-backed separatist forces, Moscow would have recognized the Donetsk region within broader boundaries than the territories controlled by the separatist forces.
“People’s Republics ” the borders are important for the war, as the separatists currently own only about a third of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, while the rest is held by Ukraine. Now that Russia believes that the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions are independent, it can use this as an excuse to infiltrate the territories ruled by Ukraine militarily and expand the war.
The Minsk agreement, on the other hand, refers to an agreement signed by Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia in 2015. The agreement included a ceasefire in “certain areas” in Donetsk and Luhansk and the withdrawal of troops behind security zones. There are two agreements in Minsk, the first of which was signed in 2014.
Speaking at the press conference, Putin also responded that Russia was ready to “fulfill its obligations” in the Donbass region when asked about the use of Russian troops in the area controlled by Russian-backed separatists. However, the troops are not to be sent to the area immediately.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russia’s Federal Council gave its approval to Putin to allow Russian troops to be deployed outside the country’s borders. The use of force was described as “peacekeeping” in the separatist regions of eastern Ukraine.
Putin also called on “anti-Russian” Ukraine to disarm.
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