Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a military “peace mission” in the two renegade regions of eastern Ukraine. These are the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics, which Putin had previously recognized as independent.
Caspar Naber
Latest update:
21-02-22, 23:08
Putin has ordered military personnel to maintain peace in the two areas. The pro-Russian separatists sitting there have been embroiled in a civil war with the Ukrainian government since 2014, which has left some 15,000 dead.
It is not immediately clear how many Russian soldiers will be sent to Ukraine. Also, no other details about the mission are known.
Tensions rose again in eastern Ukraine last week after both sides accused each other of shelling. The separatist leaders evacuated some 70,000 people to Russia in a matter of days.
The deployment of Russian military personnel in eastern Ukraine was already seen as a possibility in the recognition of the small people’s republics. Russia supports the separatists financially and militarily. In addition, since 2014, the country has issued Russian passports to more than 800,000 residents of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Historical reasons
Putin tonight signed the decision to recognize the two renegade regions as independent after a lengthy televised speech. Putin motivated that decision with historical reasons, but also warned of the military danger posed by Ukraine. The president expressed his dissatisfaction with present-day Ukraine, which he described as, among other things, an American colony with a puppet regime.
With the recognition, the Russians can now openly support the rebels in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in their fight against the Ukrainian government in Kiev. The chance of unity therefore seems further away than ever. With the decision, Moscow is throwing fuel on the fire in the Ukraine crisis. Russia wants to prevent Ukraine from joining the Western military alliance NATO. This is almost unthinkable in a torn country.
Territory
According to the Kremlin, Putin informed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, mediators in the conflict, of his decision by telephone on Monday afternoon. “They expressed their disappointment after hearing the decision.”
Before that, Putin had said at a televised meeting of the Russian Security Council that he was considering recognizing the independence of the two breakaway regions, but not annexing them and formally adding them to his territory. All participants in the meeting stated that they supported the recognition of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic.
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EU
This move is a blatant violation of both international law and the Minsk agreements
Brussels condemns Putin’s decision “in the strongest possible terms” and speaks of a “blatant violation” of both international law and the Minsk agreements (to which Russia is a party, ed.). “The European Union will respond with sanctions against those involved in this illegal act,” said a joint statement by the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen.
The European Union will announce a “limited package of sanctions” against Russians involved in the recognition decision. That said Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday evening in the program Jinek† If Russia actually moves into the neighboring country, “massive sanctions” will follow, he warned.
According to Rutte, these are now people in the Russian parliament who were involved in the decision to tell President Vladimir Putin that he must recognize the Ukrainian regions. There will also be sanctions against people in the renegade regions and their financial interests. “Precise decision-making will probably take place tomorrow.”
“But if Russia takes a step in Ukraine, a massive package of sanctions will be ready,” said the prime minister. Entering the renegade people’s republics will be enough to put this heavy package into operation, Rutte said. He called Putin’s decision to recognize Donetsk and Luhansk a “major escalation” and “really very serious”.
NATO and US
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also called recognition of the independence of the breakaway regions in Ukraine a violation of the Minsk agreements and “further undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and undermining efforts to resolve the conflict,” he tweeted.
The United States will also impose sanctions on renegade pro-Russian regions in Ukraine, the White House announced. Americans are no longer allowed to invest and trade in and with the self-declared people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. President Joe Biden will issue the order shortly. The sanctions had already been prepared, because Russian recognition was already taken into account. The US authorities warn that more sanctions could follow.
The sanctions that have now been announced are separate from the punitive measures already in place in the event that Russia invades Ukraine. The United States believes that the Russians are about to invade their neighboring country. Russia denies having any such plans.
Netherlands
Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra calls the recognition of the separatist areas ‘a flagrant violation of international law, the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the Minsk agreements. The Netherlands strongly condemns this act and will respond resolutely in close cooperation with our EU and NATO partners’
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded with: “A blatant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and integrity” and “a rejection of the Minsk process and accords.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz already said through his spokesman after his phone call with Putin that recognition of the ‘so-called’ People’s Republics “would be a flagrant contradiction of the Minsk agreements” and “a unilateral violation of these agreements by Russia.” Scholz called on the Russian president in their telephone conversation “for an immediate de-escalation and withdrawal of troops at the border with Ukraine,” the spokesman said. The chancellor then discussed the matter with his closest partners, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky convened the National Security Council on Monday evening. Last week, Ukraine reacted negatively to any recognition. Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba sees this move as proof that Moscow is withdrawing from the Minsk agreements. In 2015, agreements were made for the de-escalation of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. The warring parties agreed, among other things, to a ceasefire.
French President Emmanuel Macron also convened a defense and national security council after the call with Putin. He will investigate the situation between Ukraine and Russia tonight, the Elysée announced.
Donetsk
The leaders of the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine had asked the Russian president to recognize “the sovereignty and independence” of both regions. Denis Puschilin of the breakaway region of Donetsk also called on Putin to conclude a treaty on friendship and military assistance with his ‘People’s Republic’.
This would allow Russia to station thousands of military personnel, as happened previously in the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia that seceded from Georgia. After a short war, Russia recognized both regions as independent states.
Civil war
In 2014, the Russians took over the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was subsequently annexed. In the same year, civil war broke out in eastern Ukraine. Pro-Russian separatists have been fighting the government army there ever since. In 2015, agreements on easing tensions, including a ceasefire, were reached in the Belarusian capital Minsk. France and Germany were involved as mediators.
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