Comment: Too late. Ukraine's sovereignty was lost back in the US-backed 2014 coup.
Speaking during a televised address on Tuesday morning, Zelensky accused Moscow of undermining diplomatic efforts to resolve fighting with separatists in the Donbass, saying President Vladimir Putin's decision to recognize the Donetsk and Lugansk republics violated agreements negotiated in Minsk.
"Ukraine unequivocally qualifies the recent actions of the Russian Federation as a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state," he said. "All responsibility for the consequences of these decisions rests with Russia's political leadership."
Comment: Ukraine has repeatedly violated the Minsk accord since its inception, that's why Russia has had to intervene to prevent Ukraine from further adding to the death toll of 13,000 people; the vast majority from the two republics.
Late on Monday, the Russian president said his government would "immediately" recognize the two republics - created in the wake of Ukraine's 2014 EuroMaidan coup - and ordered the Russian military to enter the newly recognized republics as a peacekeeping force.
Comment: Note the borders that Russia is recognising is not the regions themselves but the 'non-government controlled areas' as shown in the map below:
Despite months of predictions of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine from Western leaders, Zelensky told citizens that there was "no reason for you not to sleep tonight."
Comment: Indeed. Russia has no intention of making any aggressive moves, it's the West and liabilities populating Ukraine's parliament that they need to worry about. And it's interesting that Zelensky is, again, trying to reassure people (and investors) whilst NATO continues to fearmonger.
"We can clearly distinguish between the provocations and the offensive of the aggressor's troops. Truth is on our side. And we will never hide the truth from you. As soon as we see a change in the situation, as soon as we see an increase in risks - you will know all this," Zelensky said, adding that "there is no reason for chaotic action."
Comment: Could this be an attempt to placate the more extreme elements, particularly those with neo-Nazi allegiances, from making things worse for the country who might feel the need to take the situation into their own hands?
Putin's decision to recognize the republics comes as the forces loyal to the breakaway republics and Kiev's military accused each other of heavy shelling across the contact lines. The flare-up triggered a mass evacuation of Donbass residents to nearby Russian territories across the border.
Russia's action in the Donbass was earlier condemned by the United States, by the UN secretary-general, the NATO military alliance, and the European Union, which immediately vowed to impose retaliatory sanctions.
Though Zelensky said Ukraine is "not afraid" of Moscow, he nonetheless called for "clear and effective" support from its allies, with his administration calling for an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting on the matter.
NATO 'condemns' Russia's recognition of Donbass republics NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says Russia's decision "undermines" Ukraine's sovereignty
"This further undermines Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, erodes efforts towards a resolution of the conflict, and violates the Minsk Agreements, to which Russia is a party," the NATO Secretary General wrote in a Monday statement following Putin's announcement. He added that Donetsk and Lugansk are "part of Ukraine."
Comment: All these claims Ukraine is guilty of: it compromised its own borders by waging war on its own people and by allowing itself to become a tool of provocation for the US.
Stoltenberg further claimed Putin's announcement is an attempt to "stage a pretext to invade Ukraine once again."
Comment: Oh give it a rest.
In his address, Putin said Ukraine is "amassing troops in the Donbass" in violation of the 2015 Minsk agreements. The Russian president also accused Ukraine's leadership of supporting "Russophobia" and "extreme nationalism."
Comment: Putin's statements are backed up by verifiable facts: Russia files first ever ECHR complaint against Ukraine, over Maidan massacre, censorship, discrimination & Crimea water blockade
"Let me stress once again that Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us. It is an integral part of our own history, culture, and spiritual world," he declared.
Ukraine's ambitions to join NATO, Putin said, would equate to an "immediate threat of an attack against our country."
Putin said proposals from Moscow sent to NATO and Washington were "rejected," including the assurance that Ukraine would never join NATO. The president also revealed for the first time in public that he had even discussed the possibility of Russia itself joining in 2000 with then-US President Bill Clinton, but the West has since distanced itself from Moscow significantly. Other requests included a stop to the US-led military bloc's expansion, as well as for current bloc members to renounce military activity in Ukraine.
"Some NATO member states are concerned about Ukraine joining, and we have gotten signals from European capitals saying, 'What are you worried about, it won't join NATO tomorrow' - but what about the day after tomorrow? And the day after that?" he said.
Zelensky speaks with Biden and Johnson after Russia recognizes Donbass
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that he had discussed "the events of the last hours" with US President Joe Biden and was planning to chat with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson after a meeting of Kiev's National Security and Defense Council. The urgency of the situation was such that Johnson interrupted a press conference to say he was leaving to talk to Zelensky "and offer him the support of the United Kingdom."
Comment: Johnson is mired in more scandal than usual at the moment, so one would imagine he was delighted to be gifted such a diversion.
Minutes later, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced that President Joe Biden would soon issue an executive order banning Americans from investing, financing or trading in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR, respectively). "We will also soon announce additional measures related to today's blatant violation of Russia's international commitments," she said.
Anatoly Antonov, Russia's ambassador to Washington, said on Sunday that the situation in Ukraine would be stabilized if Zelensky's government could be persuaded to meet its obligations under the ceasefire agreement.
France responds to Russia's Donbass recognition Paris wants an urgent
France on Monday condemned Russia's decision to recognize "separatist regions in eastern Ukraine" as a violation of the country's sovereignty. President Emmanuel Macron has called for an emergency session of the UN Security Council and for EU sanctions to be imposed in response.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement recognizing the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states is "clearly a unilateral violation of Russia's international commitments and an attack on Ukraine's sovereignty," Macron said in a statement.
The French leader then got on the phone to his US counterpart Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. A White House readout of the call said the trio "strongly condemned" the Russian recognition of "the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine" and will "continue to coordinate their response on [their] next steps."
According to Berlin, all three leaders agreed that Russia's "unilateral step" is a violation of the Minsk Protocol - an effort by Germany, France and Russia to mediate the conflict in Ukraine - and "will not remain unanswered."
"Germany, France and the US harshly condemn the Russian president's decision," said the German readout of the call.
Comment: Meanwhile Syria, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia accept Russia's move to recognise the republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has already warned that the EU will "react with unity" to Russia's recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.
Comment: We'll see about that, because Hungary, amidst the 'invasion' claims, struck a gas deal with Russia and made its intention for further projects with Moscow quite clear; Finland has made thinly veiled criticisms about the West's handling of the situation; factions within the Czech Republic have also been known to openly defy EU pressure to demonize Russia; and Serbia, which is awaiting acceptance into the EU, is unlikely to do so if it means sabotaging its relations with Russia.
And this exodus from the West's sphere of coercion is likely only going to increase as the economic situation there deteriorates, and the tyranny, that we saw glimpses of during the lockdowns, increases.
In his speech on Monday evening, Putin said his decision to recognize the two regions was a long overdue response to Ukraine becoming a "colony" of the West.
UN chief assesses Russia's move to recognize Donbass republics
"The secretary-general is greatly concerned by the decision by the Russian Federation related to the status of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine," Guterres' spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, adding that the UN head considers it "a violation of the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of Ukraine and inconsistent with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations."
Guterres also called for a "peaceful settlement" of the conflict in the Donbass in line with a series of agreements struck in Minsk, calling on all parties to focus on "an immediate cessation of hostilities" and "preventing any actions and statements that may further escalate the dangerous situation in and around Ukraine."
Putin cited the failure of the Minsk agreements to halt fighting between separatist forces and Ukrainian troops in the country's east, saying Kiev is "not interested in peaceful solutions" and is planning a "Blitzkrieg" in the Donbass. While a ceasefire was arranged following negotiations in 2014 and 2015, Putin said Ukraine had failed to grant special status to Donetsk and Lugansk as stipulated in the Minsk accords.
Reacting to the decision, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had requested an "urgent" meeting at the UN Security Council, citing "Russia's illegal actions."
Details of new Donbass treaties emerge
While the treaties of friendship and cooperation between Russia and the newly recognized republics of Donetsk and Lugansk are still in the draft stage, the Russian State Duma released the proposed documents on Monday night. They will include common defense against external aggression and the right to use each other's military infrastructure.
The State Duma overwhelmingly voted in favor of asking the Kremlin to recognize the rebel regions last week. The draft treaties of friendship and mutual assistance with both entities - due to last at least 10 years - have now been published on the legislature's website.
Of particular interest is Article 5, which gives both contracting parties the right to "build, use and improve military infrastructure, bases and other objects on their territory." The Kremlin has already ordered Russian troops to deploy in the two areas as peacekeepers, pending a formal treaty on military cooperation.
Article 6 bars both parties from "entering any blocs or alliances directed against either of them," and will not allow their territory to be used for launching attacks against one another.
Article 11 envisions free movement of citizens between the contracting parties, and obligates both Russia and the republics to "develop and implement an agreed set of measures to regulate the regime of entry into and exit from their territory of citizens of third countries."
Article 13 also obligates the contracting parties to protect the "ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious identity of national minorities in their territories and create conditions to preserve and develop" these identities while guaranteeing individual and collective minority rights "without being subjected to any attempts of assimilation against their will."
In 2014, I argued that the EU’s move eastward was provocative and foolish.
Time has proven me right
Paul A. Nuttall is a historian, author and a former politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament between 2009 and 2019 and was a prominent campaigner for Brexit.
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