Macron urged to prepare for a long Ukrainian crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed the opinion that the Ukrainian crisis will last a long time. It is reported on February 26 Le Figaro.

“This crisis will continue, this war will continue, and all this will have long-term consequences,” he said at the annual French agricultural exhibition in Paris.

The politician added that France is “in the process of developing a resilience plan” to resource the public sectors and to “ensure a long-term response.”

The day before, Macron said that France would impose its own sanctions against Russia in addition to the second package of measures that were approved by EU leaders.

The day before, the French leader, during a telephone conversation, called on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to immediately stop the operation to protect Donbass. The President of the Russian Federation, in turn, gave “exhaustive explanations” of the reasons and circumstances for the decision to conduct a special operation.

On February 24, Putin announced an operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass. After that, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of hitting the country’s military infrastructure and introduced martial law throughout Ukraine. He also said that Kyiv is breaking off diplomatic relations with Moscow and withdrawing its diplomats from the embassy.

The Russian Defense Ministry stressed that the army did not carry out air missile or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine. The civilian population of the country is not in danger. High-precision weapons destroy military infrastructure.

On February 21, the heads of the DPR and LPR, Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik, asked Putin to recognize the independence of the republics. The corresponding decrees were signed in the evening of the same day. In the presence of the leaders of the republics, the President of the Russian Federation also signed treaties of friendship, cooperation and assistance. The documents were ratified the next day by both the republics themselves and the Russian State Duma.

The situation in Donbass escalated on February 17, 2022. In the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, heavy shelling by Ukrainian security forces was reported, including from heavy weapons. The republics announced a general mobilization and evacuation of civilians to the territory of Russia.

Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been carrying out a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kyiv blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the conflict.

For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.