“Putin’s Absurd Performance” and “Declaration of War”. World press on recognition of DPR and LPR

President Putin’s decision to recognize the independence of the “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk drew immediate condemnation from Western leaders who threatened Russia with harsh sanctions. The Western press is surprised by how the decision to recognize DPR and LPR was made, and analyzes the consequences of this decision and the response of the West.

The Guardian questions whether the meeting of the Russian Security Council, at which the participants of the conference, addressing President Putin, unanimously in favor of recognizing the independence of the DPRK and the LNR, was broadcast live. The post called what was going on a “ridiculous performance”.

There was little exchange of views, and the apparent “spontaneity” of the event was undermined by close-up shots of some Security Council participants, suggesting that the “live” broadcast had already been filmed several hours earlier.

This did not prevent the Russian president from emphasizing an active exchange of views on the event.

It was quite clear that the decision to recognize DPR and LPR was made long before this strange orchestrated event, and the Guardian comments on the fateful meeting of the Russian Security Council.

Putin’s reappearance hours later with a lengthy, prearranged speech made claims that all decisions were made in real time less plausible.

The Russian president likely has far more far-reaching plans than simply taking part of eastern Ukraine and taking official responsibility for the territory he already controlled, the Guardian wrote.

Putin’s last words that if Kyiv did not stop the hostilities, Ukraine would be held responsible for the “continued bloodshed” were extremely ominous. It looked like a declaration of war.

The West may not always like what President Putin says, but even his critics admit that he usually speaks well, writes Times columnist Mark Bennetts.

But yesterday, when he announced to the people that Russia would recognize the independence of the two Kremlin-backed separatist republics in eastern Ukraine, he seemed to lose his rhetoric.

The newspaper pointed out that in a continuous speech that lasted about an hour, the Russian leader delivered a strange lesson in history.

Yesterday’s speech was a faded version of his best public appearance, as at the 2007 International Security Conference in Munich, when he said Russia opposes US global hegemony.

In 2018, he was praised by the Moscow elite when he said the West had ignored warnings from Russia that it would have to modernize its arsenal.

The newspaper wrote that Putin is now a lonely figure. Officials must isolate before meeting him to protect him from the Corona virus. He spent most of the epidemic at home in his country. Some opponents doubt his mental health. The publication quotes Dmitry Gudkov, a critic of the Kremlin, as saying: “We need a good psychiatrist. Before or after The Hague.” [международного трибунала] An open question.

Denouncing an autocratic indifferent to historical nuances, Vladimir Putin declared Ukraine the invention of Lenin, who, he says, mistakenly granted Ukraine statehood, granting it autonomy within the newly created Soviet state, he writes in New York. times.

The misinterpretation of history was outrageous even by the standards of the former KGB officer who called the collapse of the Soviet Union the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century, the New York Times said.

Indeed, the history and culture of Russia and Ukraine are closely intertwined. The New York Times writes that the happy fraternity of nations, with Ukraine comfortably integrated into the fabric of Greater Russia, is in doubt.

Parts of modern Ukraine were already part of the Russian Empire for several centuries. But other parts fall under the jurisdiction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poland and Lithuania.

“Putin’s argument that Ukraine historically belongs to Russia is simply wrong,” the New York Times quoted Cliff Kupchan, president of the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, as saying.

The Soviet government formed under Lenin, which Putin despised in his rhetoric, crushed the nascent independent Ukrainian state.

The publication claims that during the Soviet era, the Ukrainian language was removed from schools, and Ukrainian culture was allowed to exist in caricatures of dancing Cossack cartoons.

It was not Moscow that granted Ukraine its independence in 1991, but the Ukrainian people, who voted decisively to leave the Soviet Union in a democratic referendum, the New York Times recalls.

Now, with around 190,000 Russian soldiers flanking Ukraine like a sickle, Putin’s claim that Ukraine’s existence as a sovereign country is the result of a historical error will send a shockwave through all the lands that were under Moscow’s rule.

The Daily Telegraph writes that President Putin’s tone in addressing the nation and presenting Ukraine as an imminent security threat left little hope that war could be avoided. On Monday, he sent Russian troops to Donbass to “maintain peace”.

The Daily Telegraph quoted a Western intelligence official as saying that Russian units in all suspected Russian invasion axes are ready to attack.

“All indications that we are seeing point to a large-scale invasion from multiple directions, with multiple objectives,” the official said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has described recognition of the DPR and LPR as a flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine, and President Biden has already signed a decree on a complete ban on trade and investment in the DRC and LPR — regardless. From the response to the general sanctions of Western countries. On Tuesday, the United States will impose new sanctions on Russia.

However, it is not yet clear whether this package will include the “devastating” sanctions promised by Joe Biden in the event of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the European Union had agreed to a “limited” package of sanctions targeting “those responsible” for recognizing the breakaway regions.

Some politicians say the strongest sanctions should be kept in reserve until Russian forces cross the border.

A CNN source in the Joe Biden administration called the Kremlin’s behavior “Potimkin’s policy.” A CNN source said, “This is Potemkin Politics (BBC). President Putin is exacerbating the conflict he created himself.”

But, speaking to reporters, a senior administration official noted that the introduction of new Russian “peacekeepers” in eastern Ukraine by itself would not lead to the full package of sanctions that the administration threatens in the event of a Russian invasion, noting that “Russian forces are in in these areas “since 2014.

“Therefore, we will closely monitor what they do in the coming hours and days, and our reaction will change according to their actions,” the official said. In his words, “It now appears that Russia will act openly in this region and we will respond accordingly.”