Russian President Vladimir Putin was preparing to recognize the independence of pro-Russian breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine on Monday, the Kremlin announced, a decision that aggravates the crisis between the two countries at a time when the West fears a Russian invasion.
The PRussian residence indicated that a decree will be signed this Monday and according to the same source, Putin informed his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, and the German head of government, Olaf Scholz, mediators in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, of the decision, who , according to the Kremlin, “expressed their disappointment”.
The Russian president is also scheduled to announce his decision during a statement on television, Russian state media reported.
This decision concerns two pro-Russian territories in eastern Ukraine, a mining and industrial area bordering Russia: Donetsk and Lugansk.
The leaders of these two separatist territories, Denis Pushilin, of the DNR (Donetsk People’s Republic), and Leonid Pasechnik, of the LNR (Lugansk People’s Republic), They had asked the Russian president on Monday to recognize their independence and activate a “cooperation in defense matters.”
This decision puts an end to the unstable peace process mediated by France and Germany, which provided for the return of the territories to the control of Kiev in exchange for extensive autonomy.
The Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, responded on Twitter to these statements announcing the imminent convening of the National Security and Defense Council.
Given the statements made at the meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I held urgent consultations with @EmmanuelMacron and @OlafScholz and agreed to the National Security and Defense Council.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 21, 2022
Kiev also demanded an “immediate” meeting of the UN Security Council in the face of the threat of a Russian invasion, it collects AFP.
The UN called on “all stakeholders to refrain from any unilateral decision or action that could undermine the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” said its spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, on Monday.
“We underline our call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, for the maximum restraint of all parties to avoid any action and statement that further aggravates tensions,” Dujarric also said, stressing that all disputes must “be treated with diplomacy.” ”.
The head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, affirmed at the end of a meeting of foreign ministers of the Union in Brussels that he will put “the package of sanctions on the table of the European ministers” for the declaration of Putin refers EFE.
EU sanctions must be decided unanimously by EU leaders at a summit that will be convened in an extraordinary way. As Borrell added, “unanimity on the Ukraine issue is guaranteed.”
Lavrov-Blinken Summit, on Thursday
Russia had denounced on Monday the elimination of two groups of Ukrainian saboteurs who had penetrated its territory, and accused Ukraine of having bombed a border post, statements that Kiev denies.
“Two groups of saboteurs from the Ukrainian Army went to the Russian border (…). During the clashes the two groups of saboteurs were destroyed. One of the Ukrainian servicemen was captured,” said the head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, during the Security Council meeting.
Western countries fear that intensifying fighting in recent days in eastern Ukraine with pro-Russian separatists will provide a pretext for Moscow, which has deployed 150,000 troops to the Ukrainian border, to invade.
The French Presidency had announced a summit between Putin and Biden on Sunday, but the Kremlin on Monday described the idea as “premature”.
“There is an understanding about the fact of having to continue the dialogue at the level of ministers (of Foreign Affairs). Talking about concrete plans to organize summits is premature,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov settled before the press on Monday.
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he will meet his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, on Thursday.
For its part, the White House considers that the invasion of Ukraine is imminent and accuses Russia of seeking to “crush” the Ukrainian people.
A Russian military operation would be “particularly brutal” and “would cost the lives of Ukrainians and Russians, whether civilians or soldiers,” said US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Moscow denies having plans to invade Ukraine, but demands guarantees that this former Soviet republic will never join NATO and an end to the expansion of that alliance to its borders. Their demands have so far been rejected by the West.
Three civilians killed, according to separatists
The separatists, for their part, reported the death of three civilians in the last 24 hours, as well as the explosion of an ammunition depot in the Novoazovsk region, accusing it of “Ukrainian saboteurs”.
This information could not be independently verified.
The authorities of the two pro-Russian “republics” ordered the mobilization of men in a state of combat and the evacuation of civilians to Russia. Moscow said on Monday that 61,000 people had been evacuated from the area.
“It is war, the real one,” said Tatiana Nikulina, 64, who is among those evacuated from the Donetsk region to the Russian city of Taganrog.
The pro-Russian separatists who rose up against Kiev are waging a conflict in the east of the country that has left more than 14,000 dead since 2014, following Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian Crimea. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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