The republics have Moscow’s backing under pacts inked with the two regional leaders, the country’s foreign minister says. EU’s Josep Borrell doesn’t deem a presumed Russian military presence to be a “fully fledged invasion” at this point.
Moscow will act as a guarantor of the security and integrity of the two breakaway Donbass republics in Donetsk and Lugansk, Russia’s top diplomat has said, after the Kremlin affirmed their status as sovereign states amid a worsening standoff with Ukraine.
Speaking as part of an appearance on TV channel Russia 24 on Tuesday, Sergey Lavrov stressed that the two regions will be independent, with that status enshrined in pacts inked by President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of the two republics, Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik, the day before.
“Treaties of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance have been signed between Russia and these new states, in which we promise to safeguard their security,” the foreign minister said. “I think everyone understands that,” he added.
His remarks come after Putin signed a decree officially declaring the two territories to be sovereign states. Announcing the move to the nation in a televised address, the Russian leader said that he deemed “it necessary to make a decision that should have been made a long time ago” and to “immediately” recognize both as independent.
Putin said that the decision was in response to years of conflict in war-torn eastern Ukraine and accused Kiev of not being “interested in peaceful solutions,” claiming that its officials “want to start Blitzkreig.”
Pushilin and Pasechnik formally called for Putin to grant recognition as the two breakaway regions and Ukraine’s armed forces accused each other of heavy shelling. Last week, the heads of the two regions announced that they had begun evacuating civilians to Russia, citing a sharp spike in hostilities, and ordered the mobilization of all able-bodied men to be ready to take up arms in a potential conflict.
Kiev rejects claims it is preparing to attack, with Aleksey Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, insisting that “there is an attempt to provoke our forces,” and that the Eastern European nation’s troops “can only open fire if there will be a threat to the lives of our service members.”
Donetsk and Lugansk declared their autonomy from Kiev in 2014 following the events of the Maidan, when violent demonstrations served as an ouster for Ukraine’s elected government. Until Monday, Russia had not recognized their status as sovereign entities.
Western officials have been sounding the alarm for months of an impending Russian invasion of Ukraine, and have warned that Moscow could use “false flag” operations to justify ordering the armed forces in. The Kremlin has repeatedly insisted that it has no plans to wage a war, blasting British and American intelligence reports as “hysteria.” Read More
Josep Borrell doesn’t deem a presumed Russian military presence to be a “fully fledged invasion” at this point though. The EU’s top diplomat has claimed “Russian troops are on Ukrainian soil,” but stopped short of calling it a “fully fledged invasion”
When asked by a journalist on Tuesday how he assessed the “situation right now,” Borrell responded by saying that the “Russian troops has [sic] entered in Donbass,” adding that the EU considers the area to be “part of Ukraine.” The diplomat went on to conclude that, while “Russian troops are on Ukrainian soil,” it was not something he would describe as a “fully fledged invasion” at this point.
The EU official also revealed that the bloc’s foreign ministers are expected to adopt a fresh batch of sanctions against Russia by the end of Tuesday, following Moscow’s decision to recognize the two Donbass republics. Borrell refused to go into detail regarding the nature of the punitive measures, but he added that he was sure a “unanimous decision” would be reached, which is required for the imposition of sanctions.
The US has already slapped sanctions on the two Donbass breakaway regions. Joe Biden signed an executive order late on Monday, which, as White House press secretary Jen Psaki explained, prohibits “new investment, trade and financing by US persons to, from, or in” the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), both recognized as independent countries by Russia.
According to the order, Washington also reserves the right to impose sanctions on “any person determined to operate in those areas of Ukraine,” with “additional measures” expected to be announced later on.
Psaki stressed that the latest punitive measures were distinct from the “swift and severe economic measures we have been preparing in coordination with allies and partners should Russia further invade Ukraine.”
Late on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin made the decision to recognize the two Donbass republics as independent states. The move followed calls from the DPR and LPR leaderships to do so in the face of what they described as an imminent Ukrainian invasion.
Following the announcement, Putin also floated the idea of sending Russian peacekeepers to the Donbass to prevent a military aggression presumably planned by Ukraine. Moreover, friendship treaties between Russia and the two Donbass republics which are waiting to be fully ratified could pave the way for Russian military bases in the DPR and LPR, as well as military assistance for Lugansk and Donetsk. The treaties have already been ratified by the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma. Now the upper chamber, the Federation Council, has to make the call.
The situation in the region has dramatically escalated in recent days, with the Donbass republics reporting heavy shelling by the Ukrainian army. Two projectiles apparently fired by the Kiev military even flew over the border and landed on Russian territory on Saturday, according to Russia’s FSB security service. Ukraine, however, strongly denied that it was behind the bombardment.
The alleged shelling of Russian land was followed by a further incident on Monday morning which, according to Russian authorities, saw five Ukrainian troops cross the border. When the group was spotted by border guards, two armored vehicles came to its rescue from Ukrainian territory, the FSB claims. In the ensuing firefight, all five intruders were killed, and both vehicles destroyed. Moscow later released a video purportedly showing the two armored personnel carriers’ burning wreckage.
Ukraine, for its part, has dismissed the reports as “fake news,” and insisted that none of its troops had crossed into Russian territory.