Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron agreed to take immediate measures to stop the escalation of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, according to a statement from the Elysée Palace late on Sunday, February 20.
In the unrecognized Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, a general mobilization has been declared, practically no side is keeping the truce anymore, tens of thousands of people are fleeing to safety due to fear of an escalation of the conflict, Russia and Belarus have extended their joint military operations due to "increased military activities" near their borders. exercises, and the West always resets the countdown to the start of the alleged Russian offensive
While the state tourism organization promotes Ukraine with the slogan "Keep Calm and Visit Ukraine", war courses and combat training are held throughout the country, in which women participate in large numbers. A survey by the Kyiv Institute for Public Opinion Research shows that one third of Ukrainians are ready to take up arms in the event of war
Bidding on dates for the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues in the West. The impression that consumers of Western media get is that it is no longer a question of if, but when Russia will attack. It refers to Wednesday February 16, or some day before the end of the Olympics in Beijing on February 20, or already sometime. They say from Moscow that the American and British colleagues seem to know something, which the Russians do not
Kiev gave up its nuclear arsenal after the collapse of the USSR. The USA, the Russian Federation, Great Britain and Ukraine signed the "Budapest Memorandum" in 1994, which included the obligations that the great powers will have towards Ukraine after it gets rid of its bombs, primarily the protection of Ukrainian sovereignty. When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Washington announced that the Budapest Memorandum was not actually legally binding.
The USA and NATO rejected Russia's request that NATO not expand to the east, demand de-escalation in the case of Ukraine, propose negotiations on the deployment of missiles and nuclear arms control and on the concept of "security indivisibility".
The world seems to have gotten used to the Cold War rattling of heavy weapons by Russia and the West: it is not abating, but it no longer causes so much attention. After a five-hour conversation with Viktor Orban in Moscow, Vladimir Putin personally repeated the Russian demands, which were automatically rejected. In this game of chess or poker, the long-term security of Europe is at stake
The negotiations of the great powers on the situation in and around Ukraine are not yielding results. The bloc's division into "West" and "East" recalls the best days of the Cold War. Consolidation at the NATO and EU level around a unified response to Russia is still ongoing. In an increasingly divided world, Serbia will have to take sides at some point
No one seems to be satisfied with the German government's handling of the Ukrainian crisis. Neither the few left-wing opponents of interventionism and NATO, nor the numerous proponents of the thesis that "Putin only understands the language of force"
America has not accepted Russian demands to limit the expansion of NATO to the east and is proposing negotiations on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles. Russia is not satisfied with that answer. Tensions between Russia and the West are not abating, and the expected next moves of both sides speak in favor of deepening the crisis.
In the case of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US president appeared to impose sanctions against Putin himself. He did not specify what exactly they would refer to
The West is bidding whether Russia will attack Ukraine for Catholic or Orthodox Christmas, for the New Year, during the Winter Olympics in China, or wait for the Chinese New Year. In the general commotion, no one listens to what the President of Russia is actually saying
The price of gas has skyrocketed and with it everything else, inflation is rising, money is becoming more expensive, the USA and Russia are playing Ukrainian poker, and the pandemic is not abating. Happy New Year
With a little good wishes and a little more threats, on December 30, Joseph Biden and Vladimir Putin again discussed the de-escalation of strained relations between the US and Russia. In January, there will be a series of meetings at a lower level on the same topic
Vladimir Putin told Joseph Biden that Russia "has nowhere else to retreat", that it "cannot tolerate" that missiles are placed in Ukraine that can detonate in Moscow in ten minutes, and that Russia will respond to all "hostile" moves. adequately" to answer. If there really is a military intervention of Russia in Donbass, the question of interpretation will be whether it "attacked" Ukraine, or "defends the Russian population from aggression." Behind the clanking of arms on the issue of Ukraine, however, there is something else that is subject to negotiations
Moscow demands that NATO give up "pushing" the Balkan countries and Ukraine into the alliance, stop grouping troops on Russia's borders, and reduce its presence in the Black Sea and the airspace of the Baltic countries. Russia criticizes NATO's policy in the countries of the Western Balkans, such as supporting the establishment of the "Kosovo Army", and assures that such military preparations by NATO "cannot remain without an adequate Russian response".
