Russia recognizes the independence of eastern Ukraine and raises the drums of war

Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized on Monday the Ukrainian regions occupied by pro-Russian separatists of Donetsk and Lugansk as independents, “a decision I should have made a long time ago”. Shortly after, he ordered the Russian troops stationed until now on the border to take up positions in said Ukrainian territories, aggravating the conflict with Ukraine by blowing up the Minsk peace accords signed in 2015, and seriously jeopardizing the negotiations with the West, which is studying how react.

Putin communicated his decision to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron via phone call. Scholz lamented in a statement a decision violates the Minsk agreements and seriously jeopardizes a negotiated solution to the crisis. The German initiated contacts with Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other allies to study a possible reaction. Macron has called an urgent meeting of France’s national security council.

In a long and furious speech shortly afterward, Putin denounced Ukraine’s existence as an independent country, stating that “Ukraine has no tradition of being an independent country” and that “it was created by Lenin”. “Ukraine is a colony [de EEUU] presided over by a puppet government,” he said, in a direct threat to its existence. He also denounced that the last communist president, Mikhail Gorbachev, allowed numerous republics that were part of the USSR to become independent, in another threatens several EU member states (Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia).

He then attacked the Ukrainian political class, accusing them of corruption, and alleged non-existent intentions to “rebuild Ukraine’s nuclear weapons” -which Ukraine handed over to Russia after its independence in exchange for Moscow’s commitment to respect its territorial integrity-, “support Islamic terrorism in Crimea” -Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia since 2014- and an imaginary “occupation of Ukrainian land” by NATO. In their particular view of the world, Ukraine would be preparing an immediate invasion of the occupied regions in the east – they would not have found a better time to do it than when there are more than 100,000 Russian soldiers ready to attack – and the US would be helping Kiev create bombs weapons with which to attack Russia.

Putin’s furious speech, which seemed to lead to the immediate declaration of war against Ukraine, ended in the signing of a decree of independence of the eastern territories and the signing of “mutual aid” “treaties” with the pro-Russian occupation forces , which include the deployment of the Russian Army throughout the Ukrainian territory occupied by the rebels.

The message came just a few minutes after concluding a meeting of the foreign ministers of the European Union, after the wedge the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, had threatened sanctions if the decision was confirmed. “If there is annexation, there will be sanctions; if there is recognition, I will put the sanctions on the table and the ministers will decide”Borrell assured.

Immediately after the signing of the Putin documents, in a coordinated reaction on Twitter, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Borrell, have described the announcement as “flagrant violation international law, the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the Minsk agreements” and assured that the EU and its partners “will react with unity, firmness and determination in solidarity with Ukraine”. The allies are now trying to coordinate a reaction to a decision that changes a dynamic in which the Kremlin had been willing to talk, although it is not clear that the decision will be enough in the eyes of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the EU to impose actions against the regime.

Ukraine increases the pressure

Even before Putin’s announcement, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who participated in the meeting with his European counterparts, called on the EU to start taking action against Russia. “We believe that there are good and legitimate reasons to impose at least part of the sanctions now, to show that the EU is not only talking but also acting,” Kuleba said. The foreign minister also asked for perspective. He reiterated his country’s willingness to join the Union and asked for perspective. “The best decision the EU can take now to improve the situation is to send a clear signal to Russia that Ukraine belongs to us.”assured the minister.

So far, the twenty-seven have been cautious. They just expanded the list of individuals sanctioned for their participation in the illegal organization of elections in the annexed Crimea and promised to assist Ukraine in training its own, in addition to approving a financial aid package worth one thousand two hundred million euros. . But Borrell assured that Europe is ready to take action quickly and will convene an extraordinary meeting of ministers as soon as necessary, if necessary.

Until now, the twenty-seven have used the threat of an unprecedented battery of sanctions as a dissuasive tool, but they did not believe that the conditions were yet met to launch them against the Vladimir Putin regime. The Kremlin’s decision to recognize eastern Ukraine as independent, the latest Russian provocation, could change this.

Kuleba has called for “urgent action” to lower tensions and “practical steps” to ensure Ukraine’s security

The Government of Ukraine has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to deal with “practical” issues that will allow tensions to be lowered and the specter of a possible Russian military invasion to be dispelled.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Kuleba, has announced on Twitter that he has submitted this request at the initiative of the president, Volodimir Zelenski. Kiev trusts that there will be “immediate” consultations because it considers the Budapest memorandum on security guarantees to be unfulfilled, whose commitments Russia also signed.

Kuleba has called for “urgent action” to lower tensions and “practical steps” to ensure Ukraine’s security. The Ukrainian government estimates that there are some 150,000 Russian troops near its border, despite the fact that in recent weeks it has called for calm so that panic does not spread.

The minister has also asked Moscow on Monday to “stop its factory producing falsehoods” and has denied that Kiev has plans to attack Donetsk and Lugansk, in full tension and amid the worsening of the situation in the east of the country. He has denied, among other issues, the sabotage attributed to him, as well as an attack on Russian territory.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has limited himself to defending the firm official messages that the European Union and NATO are sending to Russia.