According to Kortunov, if President Vladimir Putin recognizes the independence of the "Donbass and Luhansk People's Republics", this will mean the end of the Minsk Agreement signed in the Belarusian capital in February 2015, considering that this agreement is the only legal basis for settling the Ukrainian crisis.
In his speech to an episode of "Beyond the News" program, Kortunov warned that the escalation in the Ukrainian crisis would affect Russia, expressing his hope that President Putin would show logical and rational analysis.
The Russian guest also spoke about his country's readiness to defend its national security, but he made it clear that the nuclear dimension is a very important issue in Russian-American relations, and it should not be held hostage to any crisis that erupts between the two parties.
Former US National Security Council member Professor Charles Caption agreed with the Russian guest’s statement that the situation would become more complicated if Putin decided to recognize the independence of the “People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk” - declared unilaterally, and controlled by pro-Russians in southeastern Ukraine - and that this It will lead to a crisis that could take years.
However, Caption expressed some kind of optimism about diplomatic moves to contain the Ukrainian crisis, and said that diplomacy could lead to averting war, referring in the same context to the upcoming meeting between US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
And regarding the conflicting statements between Washington and Moscow, the American guest saw that Washington does not want to spread panic, but seeks to reveal information to the international community.
Putin's incursion into the Donbass
In his analysis of the developments of the Ukrainian crisis, the military and strategic expert, Major General Mamoun Abu Nowar, saw that the Russian President had an initiative to incur an incursion into the Donbass region, recognizing the "Republics of Lugansk and Donetsk", and that all Russian equipment was ready for that, but he made it clear that this recognition is part of Putin's efforts to make a deal. bargaining with the West.
According to Abu Nowar, Putin will not back down from his position, and may make a partial incursion and obtain the Donbass region, and here is the deal with the West, which he said is too late in maintaining European security and limiting Russian influence.
Ukraine and the West are living in an atmosphere of acute tension with Russia after Moscow in the past weeks has mobilized more than 130,000 troops on the border, and while it has repeatedly denied its intention to invade its western neighbor, the United States and the Europeans are threatening dire consequences for Russia if it does so.