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Ukrainian separatists ‘can resume war’

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov said that, Russia wants to keep options open, meaning that the threat of additional territorial claims may remain in reserve

Russia President Vladimir Putin’s recognition of separatist groups in eastern Ukraine on February 21 raises the question: What specific areas has Moscow recognized? RFE / RL correspondent Robert Coalson writes.
Russian-backed separatists have created unrecognized “constitutions” when they seized land in the Donbas in 2014, Luhansk and They have filed a lawsuit against the Donetsk region as a whole. The total area of ​​these provinces is 53 thousand 20It is larger than 0 sq. Km.
The ceasefire reached in 2015 did not end the war between Kiev and Russian-backed forces, and the sides parted ways. Two-thirds of the territory, including the port city of Mariupol on the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov, remained under the control of the Ukrainian army. Separatists in the regional capital Donetsk and They control a third of the region, including Luhansk.
It is not clear whether Putin’s February 21 decree recognizes the independence of only separatist-held or claimed territories.
Putin itself brings clarity
Konstantin Skorkin, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, last week, still Russia When the parliament discussed the issue of recognition, he said that the border issue was important.
“Separatists can start a war for territorial integrity,” he said. “This will increase tensions, and the resumption of military activity on the basis of their territorial claims will almost certainly involve Russian forces,” the analyst said.
Putin He clarified the recognition of the separatists on February 22 and said that he recognized their territorial claims. This means the escalation of the military conflict in Ukraine. Putin At the same time, he expressed hope that these issues could be resolved “peacefully.”
Kiev says it is not engaged in military operations in the Donbas and that the shooting on the line of contact came from separatists. To the calculation of the United States according toNear the borders of Russia and Ukraine and has mobilized about 190,000 troops in the annexed Crimea. Kiev and Western countries say a major attack is expected.
The separatists took action
The Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, hastily approved Putin’s request to send troops abroad. Prior to the vote, Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov told lawmakers without providing evidence that, “The Ukrainian leadership is violent and has chosen the path of bloodshed. ” He claimed that Ukraine had 60,000 troops and military equipment on the “borders” of the separatists.
Representatives of the separatists began to voice their claims to the entire territory before Putin made his intentions clear.
Dmitry Khoroshilov, a leading separatist in Luhansk, told reporters on February 22 that, The “people’s republic” they proclaim covers the entire pre-war Luhansk region and Some parts of it were “occupied by Ukrainian forces.”

The separatists have demanded that Kiev withdraw its troops from the two regions.
Snowlight statements
On February 22, Russian officials were skeptical of Putin’s intentions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that, The two bodies were recognized “within the declared borders.” However, this statement is very contradictory, because the separatists claim – Donetsk and The borders of the Luhansk region far exceed the borders they control.

Peskov’s words are Moscow’s intention snowit can also indicate the intention to create light. Because Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov later noted that, Russia wants to keep the options open, meaning that the threat of additional territorial claims may remain in reserve.

“It’s not surprising that there are so many sovereign countries whose borders are undefined or simply undefined,” he said. This is a matter for the future, a matter to be resolved, “he said.
“Full-scale attack”
Well-known Russian commentator Vladimir Solovyov, who supports the Kremlin’s policy, wrote in the Telegram that, The separatists in Donetsk “need access to the Sea of ​​Azov and control over the port of Mariupol.”
Separatist organizations “Donetsk and They will be recognized within the borders of Luhansk region in early 2014, “he wrote.
Leading employee of the Carnegie Moscow Center, political analyst Alexander Baunov writes that, Russia’s recognition of separatists’ territorial claims and through which the military pressure on the West is not reduced. “

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