16 March 2022

Russia – Ukraine Crisis: As West race to prevent war, why Putin will not allow Kiev to join NATO

Maj Gen PK Mallick, VSM (Retd)

Drumbeats of war were being sounded for some time in Ukraine Russian border with an estimated 150,000 Russian troops massed on three sides of Ukraine. Hectic diplomatic parleys were going on. There were speculations that action may start after the end of Winter Olympic games. Saturday’s statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering forces into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine may well have been a beginning of some military action. Putin said,“I consider it necessary to take a long-overdue decision: To immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic.” Putin’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk rebel regions’ independence paves the way for the long-feared Russian invasion and effectively shatters the Minsk peace agreements.

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