On February 21, local time, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a national video speech, announcing the recognition of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic, which are claimed by the Ukrainian civilian armed forces, as independent countries.
Putin said in his speech that the situation in Donbas is extremely serious.
He made a televised speech today, not only to assess the situation, but also to inform the nation of the decision Russia has taken and possible measures to be taken in this regard.
Putin first reviewed history in his speech, and then said that Western countries such as the United States and NATO have begun to shamelessly use Ukraine as a potential war site, and they have continuously sent weapons to Ukraine, sending military instructors and advisers.
NATO and Ukraine held joint military exercises, stationed troops in Ukraine, and Ukraine's airspace and waters were also opened to NATO.
NATO headquarters can even directly command the Ukrainian armed forces.
Putin stressed that NATO is constantly trying to convince Russia that NATO is a purely defensive alliance, but five eastward expansions in history have seen NATO's military facilities deployed in areas close to Russia's border.
The Americans use Ukraine to pursue an anti-Russian policy.
Ukraine's accession to NATO is a direct threat to Russia's national security.
From a historical perspective, it makes no difference for Russia to admit or delay Ukraine's membership of NATO now.
Putin said that Russia is fully aware of its responsibility to safeguard regional stability and security.
It is for this reason that Russia makes relevant proposals on European security.
The U.S. and NATO’s replies to Russia’s security recommendations did not respond to Russia’s three core concerns, including the halting of NATO’s eastward expansion, the restoration of NATO’s military infrastructure in Europe to 1997 levels, and the cessation of deployments near the Russian border. Strike weapons.
The Russian side is willing to discuss some security issues with the United States and NATO, but the premise is to conduct a comprehensive discussion on the main issues involving Russia's core concerns.
Russia has every right to use all means of response to defend national security.
Putin said that humanitarian crises such as "genocide" are taking place in the Donbas region.
The Ukrainian authorities are trying to stage a "blitzkrieg" in the Donbass without themselves wanting to implement the Minsk agreement.
That afternoon, Putin hosted a Russian Federation Security Conference at the Kremlin to discuss the Donbas issue.
Putin hopes that all participants will study Russia's situation on the basis of the request by the leaders of the civil forces in Donetsk and Luhansk for Russia to recognize it as an independent state, as well as the appeal letter from the Russian State Duma to the Russian President on recognizing the self-proclaimed state of the civil forces. The question of next steps and whether areas under civilian control should be recognized as independent states.
Unlike previous security conferences, this conference was broadcast live on TV.
Putin said that in order to hear the real expression of opinions, he and all the participants did not communicate in advance on the issues of the day.
Putin emphasized that whether to recognize the civilian-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine as a state is closely related to world and European security, because using Ukraine as a tool to confront Russia is a serious threat to Russia.
Medvedev, Vice Chairman of the Russian Federation Security Council, Volodin, Chairman of the Russian State Duma, Matviyenko, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council, Russian Prime Minister Mishustin, Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council Patrushev, and Russian Foreign Minister Lav Rove, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu, Russian representative of the tripartite contact group on Ukraine Kozak, Russian Federal Security Service Director Poltnikov, Russian Foreign Intelligence Director Naryshkin and others took turns to speak, pointing out that Ukraine is in the With the connivance of Western countries, they refused to implement the Minsk Agreement and assembled heavy weapons, including tanks, and 59,300 soldiers near the line of contact between Donetsk and Luhansk.
In order to protect the lives and safety of the people in the Donbas region, the vast majority of the participants supported the immediate recognition of the areas controlled by the civilian armed forces in Udong as an independent country. .
Since the end of February last year, the exchange of fire and casualties in the Donbas region has increased.
Ukrainian government forces and civilian armed forces accuse each other of breaking the ceasefire agreement.
Since Joseph Biden took office as President of the United States, he has advocated being tough on Russia, supporting Ukraine's entry into NATO, and strengthening military assistance to the Ukrainian government.
The situation in Ukraine then heated up again.
In December 2021, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on security dialogue with the United States and other Western countries, requesting the United States and NATO to provide legal guarantees for excluding the possibility of NATO's further eastward expansion.
From January 10th to 13th this year, Russia conducted dialogues with the United States and NATO on security proposals respectively, but no substantive results were achieved.
Recently, the relationship between Russia and Ukraine has continued to be tense, and the two sides have deployed a large number of military personnel and weapons in the border areas of the two countries.
The United States, Ukraine and NATO allege that Russia has assembled a large number of troops near the eastern border of Ukraine and has the potential of "invasion".
Russia denies this, emphasizing that NATO activities threaten Russia's border security, and Russia has the right to mobilize troops within its borders to defend its territory.
(Headquarters reporter Song Yao and Wang Bin)