Inauspicious development of the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border has been making the headlines all around the world. Russia now sent troops to its western neighbor, despite the threats stated by the US, EU and UK, starting what might become the biggest armed clash in Europe since World War II.
The Russia-Ukraine crisis is a continuance of the one eight years ago. In 2013, a Russian-friendly Ukrainian president refused to sign an EU association document, which led to mass protests in Kyiv also known as Euromaidan. As a response, Russia annexed Crimean Peninsula. Weeks later, it supported a separatist rebellion in Ukraine’s east. As a possibility to resolve the situation, the Minsk agreement was signed in 2015, although it has never been fully implemented. More than 14,000 people have died in the conflict, 1.5 million are internally displaced in Ukraine.
In November 2021 satellite images showed a build-up of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine. In December, Russia presented its security demands to the West. It requested that NATO ceases military activity in eastern Europe and doesn’t expand any further.
Though Mr. Putin has repeatedly denied plans to invade and called western warnings “hysteria,” the situation suggests that the warnings were reasonable. Russia has 190,000 troops deployed close to Ukraine’s borders. It declared that some troops had completed their exercise and are returning to their permanent bases, but NATO said it doesn’t have any evidence of de-escalation.
On 21st February, Putin delivered a lengthy speech. He called the Ukrainian nation a historical mistake and stated that Ukraine had been “created” by Russia. At the end of the speech, he formally recognized the independence of Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic. Russia ordered “peacekeepers” to deploy in eastern Ukraine. Thus, Russia has broken international law.
During the UN Security Counsil’s emergency meeting the US ambassador stated that Russia’s leader “has torn the Minsk agreement to shreds.” Some countries are imposing sanction on Russia, just as they warned earlier. We’ll have to see how the situation will evolve in the next days and weeks.
Amélia Cápec