Putin: Minsk Agreement no longer exists – Ukraine should be demilitarized

LAST UPDATE 21:38

Russian President Vladimir Putin today clarified that the Minsk peace agreement on Ukraine no longer exists, blaming Kiev for the collapse of the agreement, while clarifying that Moscow recognized the two breakaway “Republics” within the borders of the Donetsk region and Luhansk, although some parts of these areas are controlled by Ukrainian government forces.

In a press conference in Moscow, the Russian president said that a Ukraine armed to the teeth is something that can not be accepted, adding that Ukraine should be demilitarized.

As for the operations of Russian troops in the breakaway regions, the Russian president said that at the moment it is impossible to predict the specific actions of the Russian units in Donbas.

“I did not say that the army would go anywhere now,” he told reporters, when asked how far the Russian military could go in Donbas.

At the same time, the Russian president said that “it is completely impossible in general to predict a specific framework of possible actions in Donbas, it depends on the specific situation that is developing on the ground, on the field, as it is said.”

Commenting on the statements made by Ukraine that it should acquire nuclear weapons, the Russian president said that he had heard them and said that the appearance of regular nuclear weapons in Ukraine posed a strategic threat to Russia.

In his view, Ukraine has sufficient capacity in the nuclear sector and the conditions to solve this problem quickly compared to other countries starting from scratch, but does not have a uranium enrichment system, but said that this is a “technical problem”. , but it is not an unsolvable problem for Ukraine.

Russia is establishing diplomatic relations with Ukrainian separatists

Russia officially announced today that it has established diplomatic relations with the two separatist regions of eastern Ukraine, whose independence was recognized by President Vladimir Putin, to the great displeasure of Kiev and the West.

Moscow and the autonomous “Republics” of Donetsk and Lugansk, which have not been recognized by the international community, have agreed to “establish diplomatic relations”, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has congratulated his “counterparts” in the two breakaway regions, the ministry said.

“The Russian side aims to develop full cooperation with these territories in order to ‘enhance peace, regional stability and security,'” the source said.

The remarks came as Kiev and the West feared a large-scale Russian military offensive against Ukraine, on the border of which more than 150,000 Russian troops have been stationed for weeks, according to Washington.

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