© Kremlin
Russia is marking two years since it accepted the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics as new parts of the country, along with the regions of Zaporozhye and Kherson. The treaties with the breakaway entities were signed amid hostilities with Ukraine, after people in those territories voted for the move in referendums. Kiev has rejected the votes as a "sham" and they have failed to gain widespread international recognition.
In a short statement, Putin reminded the nation that Moscow had initially intended to facilitate the return of Donetsk and Lugansk to Ukraine, after they rebelled against Kiev in the wake of the US-backed violent coup in 2014.
"You all know how those negotiations ended: with lies, fraud, deceit from the Western elites, who have since turned Ukraine into their colony, a military foothold against Russia," the president said.
"They deliberately fostered hatred and radical nationalism, incited enmity towards anything Russian, supplied weapons, sent mercenaries and advisers, prepared the Ukrainian Army for a new war, to again, like it did in the spring and summer 2014, conduct punitive action in the southeast," he added.
The Minsk Accords, which were struck in 2014 and 2015 in a bid to resolve tensions in Ukraine, were designed to buy time for Kiev to rearm, according to statements made later by the then-leaders of France, Germany and Ukraine.
Subsequent events have proven that Russian military action was warranted, Putin claimed. "The truth is on our side. All of our objectives will be reached," he said.
Western nations backing Ukraine have accused Russia of launching an unprovoked attack against it in February 2022. They claim that, by funneling hundreds of billions of dollars worth of military equipment to Kiev, they delay and potentially prevent a future Russian attack against NATO, plans that Moscow denies harboring.
Moscow has identified NATO's expansion in Europe since the 1990s as a key cause of the conflict, with membership promised to Ukraine in 2008, as well as Kiev's discriminatory policies against ethnic Russians following the 2014 coup. Russian officials see the hostilities as a US-led proxy war against their country, in which Ukrainians are being used as 'cannon fodder'.
USA/NATO has been training Ukrainian military since at least 1993. This continued to expand going forward. How would USA react if Russia was training the Mexican military? The west started talking openly about NATO membership for Ukraine in 2008, and now Ukraine is an unacknowledged de-facto member. Of course Russia was provoked.
Almost all nations have contingency plans on how to attack their neighbors or competitors if necessary. That is the world we live in. Despite what they say, of course Russia has such plans, but that is not the same as having the intent.
Probably it is correct that Russia had no intentions to attack NATO in 2022. NATO was not ramping up war production at that time, despite its relentless expansion. Russian buildup was most likely defensive in the face of NATO expansion and what they saw as an attempt to destabilize their country via proxy war.
With the ground war all but lost, Ukraine continues to use western weapons to further strike inside Russia, in preference of attempting to turn the tide on the battlefield. This removes all doubt in Russia that it is fighting NATO rather than just Ukraine. That suggests plans for a preemptive attack on NATO are now being examined and their deficiencies remedied, so they are functional when/if a decision is made to employ them. If NATO now begins a massive ramp-up in war preparations, while continuing provocations, I would not be surprised if they get what they are provoking.