The Washington Post - USA (2022-02-22)

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 A

“NATO completely ignores our

protests,” he said, alluding to his

demand for a guarantee that

Ukraine never be allowed to join

the transatlantic alliance. “They

spit on them and do whatever

they want.”

He warned that the West was

using Ukraine as a “theater of

potential warfare” against Rus-

sia.

Putin threatened those respon-

sible for a 2014 fire in the Ukraini-

an city of Odessa that resulted in

the deaths of pro-Russian activ-

ists. “We know their names,” he

said, “and we will find them and

bring them to justice.”

“The level of threat for our

country is becoming greater and

greater,” he said. “Russia has ev-

ery right to take countermeasures

to enhance our security, and

that’s how we plan to act.”

He finished by announcing a

step that he said “should have

been done a long time ago” — to

decree Donetsk and Luhansk in-

dependent states. The move

breaches a 2015 Minsk peace

agreement that was supposed to

restore the two separatist regions

to Ukraine’s control, but that deal

was vaguely worded and never

fully implemented.

Russia fomented uprisings in

those two areas after annexing

Crimea in 2014 and following

Ukraine’s Maidan revolution,

which ousted a pro-Moscow lead-

er and ushered in a Western-lean-

ing government.

Putin’s decree drew immediate

rebukes on both sides of the At-

lantic. White House press secre-

tary Jen Psaki called it a “blatant

violation of Russia’s international

commitments.”

European Commission Presi-

dent Ursula von der Leyen vowed

that Europe and its partners “will

react with unity, firmness and

with determination in solidarity

with Ukraine.”

Putin, in his speech, dismissed

the prospect of sanctions.

“They’re again trying to black-

mail us, again threatening us

with sanctions, which by the way

they will bring against us any-

way,” he said. “The goal is the

same: to restrain the develop-

ment of Russia.”

“All pretenses are gone,” said

Eugene Rumer, director of the

Russia and Eurasia program at

the Carnegie Endowment for In-

ternational Peace. The mutual-as-

sistance treaty Putin signed with

the two regions now allows him

to send Russian troops in “with-

out any pretenses” of them being

part of “an indigenous grass-

roots separatist” rebellion.

“That in itself would be an act

of war against Ukraine,” said

Rumer, a former U.S. national

intelligence officer on Russia.

The Donetsk and Luhansk re-

gions are only partially controlled

by Russia-backed separatists. If

Russian troops pushed deeper

into those parts of the regions

held by Ukraine, the Ukrainian

army would resist, Rumer said.

“It could get very bloody.”

Sonne and Nakashima reported from

Washington. John Hudson, Dalton

Bennett and Sammy Westfall

contributed to this report.

House, held a flurry of calls with

Zelensky, French President Em-

manuel Macron and German

Chancellor Olaf Scholz. They

were unified in their condemna-

tion of Putin’s action and dis-

cussed next steps in a coordinat-

ed response.

Putin has long waged a cam-

paign of disinformation, falsely

accusing Ukraine of “genocide”

against the regions and claiming

that Kyiv has mounted intensify-

ing military attacks there. He has

produced no evidence for his ac-

cusation.

In his lengthy address Monday,

Putin advanced his controversial

take on Ukraine’s history, decry-

ing the collapse of the Soviet

Union and dismissing Ukraine as

a pseudo-state created by the Bol-

sheviks in the days of Soviet Pre-

mier Vladimir Lenin. Ukraine, he

said, was “a colony with puppets

at its helm,” where Russian speak-

ers were oppressed.

“You want decommunization?

That completely works for us. We

are prepared to show what real

decommunization means for

Ukraine,” he said, appearing to

suggest that he might seek to

dismantle the country.

His speech, which lasted

roughly an hour, expressed his

long-held belief that Russia has

been wronged by history and at-

tacked by Western powers. He

said Lenin and the Bolsheviks

mistreated Russia by tearing

away its historical territories, and

he voiced a litany of grievances

against Ukraine, which has been

steadily moving toward the West

for the last eight years.

He attacked NATO’s expan-

sion, saying Western countries

wanted to hold Russia back and

had never taken Moscow’s con-

cerns into account.

Hopes were high that this

would put an end to a life in a gray

zone.

“Were you listening to Putin?

We were just now, and we are so

happy that after eight years they

are finally going to recognize us,”

a woman, who declined to give

her name, said in the foyer of the

hotel.

“Why do you think no one is

attacking Crimea? Because Putin

made it part of Russia officially,”

she added.

Daria Kaleniuk, a prominent

anticorruption activist and exec-

utive director of the Anti-Corrup-

tion Action Center in Kyiv, blast-

ed Putin’s speech. “I am con-

vinced now there will be war,” she

tweeted, “with [the] goal to de-

stroy our country.” She urged the

West to “act now” to sanction

Moscow.

Biden, who met with his na-

tional security team at the White

“Russian troops moving into

Donbas would not itself be a new

step,” the senior administration

official said in a call with report-

ers, speaking on the condition of

anonymity because of the sensi-

tivity of the matter. “Russia has

had forces in the Donbas region

for the past eight years.”

Dozens of evacuees from the

separatist regions were glued to

their cellphone screens Monday,

watching an extraordinary meet-

ing of the Russian Security Coun-

cil called by Putin to decide

whether Russia would recognize

the territories’ independence.

The evacuees in Taganrog Ho-

tel, set up to accept the influx of

people evacuating to Russia’s

Rostov region from the self-pro-

claimed Donetsk People’s Repub-

lic just across the border, were

convinced that Putin would ac-

cept the council’s recommenda-

tion and recognize the regions.

well as Moscow’s “ongoing aggra-

vation of the security situation

around Ukraine” and threat to

“international peace and secu-

rity.” The Washington Post ob-

tained a copy of the letter.

Russia, which appeared largely

isolated at the world body, also

came under criticism from U.N.

Secretary General António Gu-

terres, who said the Kremlin’s

actions were “inconsistent with

the principles of the Charter of

the United Nations.”

Zelensky told his countrymen

in a video address posted on

social media that “we will give up

nothing to no one” and that

Ukraine’s internationally recog-

nized borders “will stay that way,

despite any statements or actions

taken by the Russian Federation.”

“It’s very important to see now

who is our real friend and part-

ner, and who continues to fright-

en the Russian Federation with

words,” he said.

The State Department, which

evacuated the U.S. Embassy from

Kyiv to the western Ukrainian

city of Lviv, said Monday that out

of precaution, embassy workers

would be staying over the border

in Poland and commuting to Lviv

to carry out their duties.

The situation presents a pre-

carious moment for the White

House. For weeks, Biden and al-

lied leaders have been warning

Russia that an invasion would

result in severe sanctions on the

Russian financial sector and ex-

port controls that would hobble

the nation’s economy.

Now, they have to decide

whether Putin’s decision to move

Russian forces into the break-

away territories constitutes the

sort of invasion that would trig-

ger the full-fledged package of

measures.

own nuclear weapons, calling this
a “real threat” that the West might
help Kyiv achieve.
Russian officials for weeks
have been claiming falsely that
Ukraine is preparing an offensive
to retake the breakaway territory
in Donbas. In his speech, Putin
appeared to threaten Kyiv with a
broader war if Ukrainian forces
didn’t immediately stand down.
“Otherwise, all responsibility for
the possible continuation of
bloodshed will be completely and
entirely on the conscience of the
regime ruling Ukraine’s terri-
tory,” he said.
Putin authorized the Russian
Defense Ministry to send forces
into the self-declared separatist
republics for “peacekeeping” pur-
poses in official government de-
crees published by the state news
agency RIA Novosti. Previously,
the Kremlin denied putting Rus-
sian forces in the separatist en-
claves, though their presence
there has been well-documented
by Ukrainian, European and
American officials.
The agreement with the two
breakaway territories signed by
Putin also says Russia can have
military bases there. Separatist
leaders, however, do not control
the entirety of the two Ukrainian
regions. Since 2014, the Donbas
region has been divided into sep-
arate territories: the Kyiv-con-
trolled parts of the Donetsk and
Luhansk oblasts, and the separat-
ist Donetsk and Luhansk “peo-
ple’s republics.” Russian-backed
separatists control only about
one-third of the region — about
6,500 square miles — along the
border with Russia.
A senior Biden administration
official characterized Putin’s
speech as an attack on the very
idea of a sovereign and independ-
ent Ukraine.
“This was a speech to the Rus-
sian people to justify a war,” the
official said, speaking on the con-
dition of anonymity under
ground rules set by the White
House.
Ukrainian President Volod-
ymyr Zelensky for weeks has been
urging the West to impose sanc-
tions in response to the buildup
of Russian forces and materiel
around his country, but U.S. and
many European officials have
said the threat of sanctions
should function as a deterrent to
Putin and be triggered only after
he invades Ukraine.
The senior Biden administra-
tion official said new sanctions
will be imposed Tuesday but did
not characterize their scope. The
administration also announced a
ban on U.S. trade with the break-
away regions.
Late Monday, the United Na-
tions Security Council held an
emergency meeting on the
Ukraine crisis, following a re-
quest by Kyiv citing Russia’s deci-
sion to recognize the separatist
regions.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the
United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya,
formally requested the meeting
in a letter that cited Russia’s
recognition of Donetsk and Lu-
hansk as independent nations, as

UKRAINE FROM A

In speech, Putin condemns Ukraine and NATO

ALEKSEY NIKOLSKYI/KREMLIN POOL/SPUTNIK/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Russian President Vladimir Putin signs decrees recognizing the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic

at the Kremlin, as the leaders of those separatist regions of Ukraine look on. In his speech, Putin dismissed Ukraine as the West’s p uppet.

ARTHUR BONDAR FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

A volunteer helps an older woman who fled from Ukraine’s Donbas

region across the border to Taganrog, Russia. About 190,

Russian personnel are amassed on Ukraine’s borders.

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