New Delhi: In a sudden but lengthy nationally televised address on Monday night, Russian President Vladimir Putin accorded recognition and therefore, independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, strengthening the possibility of a full-scale war soon.
Delving deep into history and invoking the Ottoman Empire, the 1917 Revolution, Russian leaders Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Nikita Khrushchev, Putin said: "I deem it necessary to make a decision that should have been made long ago—to immediately recognize the sovereignty and independence of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic."
Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin, leaders of the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk respectively were also present during Putin’s address in Moscow.
The speech had all the components of accusations against the Ukrainian government, NATO, and the US, and may well be the justification for military action on Ukraine.
The development severely restricts the scope for peace between the confronting countries while greatly enhancing the possibility of a full-blown war that has the potential to draw in the European and global powers.
As of now, Russia has directed its forces to move into the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics in a “peace-keeping” role where it has assumed the right to develop and build military bases.
Russia has already amassed more than 1,50,000 troops and heavy military equipment in the regions bordering Ukraine while its naval assets have been deployed in the waters near the region of confrontation.
In an early Tuesday public address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asserted that regardless of the Russian recognition of the independence of the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, his country’s internationally recognized borders and territories remain unchanged.
The development drew strong condemnation from the US and possibly jettisons the planned summit—brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron—between Putin and President Joe Biden with the latter ordering an immediate stopping of all US economic activity in the two regions.
The US, UK and France have sought an immediate UN Security Council meeting on the Ukraine issue. Russia, as the current president of the Security Council, is responsible for scheduling the meeting.
Read:United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency meeting today on Ukraine
