Putin claims to expand military operations in Ukraine beyond Donbas to prevent the west from assisting extremist nationalists and neutralising a “real threat.”
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he chose to conduct a military campaign in Ukraine beyond the borders of the People’s Republic of Donetsk and Lugansk because of malpractices of the west.
In his address, he said that a special military operation in Ukraine was necessary to prevent the West from “endlessly” supplying “nationalists and radicals” with resources of destruction like weapons and money.
He went on to say that the Russian military was “practically done” with destroying Ukrainian air defences and military installations.
Genuine danger from Kyiv and NATO
Putin stated that Russia has long been critical of the western military infrastructure along its borders. Ukraine’s desire to join the US-led organisation, formed to destroy Moscow, raise
security threats to the country. So, he directed Russian forces to invade Ukraine to neutralise the “real threat” posed by NATO and Kyiv.
The president acknowledged his desire for Kyiv to be a neutral state and said,
“They have begun to say more actively that they will admit (Ukraine) to NATO. What will this lead to? All the members of the alliance must back Ukraine in the case of military conflict. “
“They will attack Crimea, and we will be forced to go to war with NATO. Do you understand the consequences? ” Putin added. In 2014, Crimea chose to leave Ukraine and join Russia. It was at that time when civil war broke out in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
Russia can’t ignore nuclear threats from Ukraine
Last month, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky indicated that Ukraine may reconsider its position as a non-nuclear-weapon state and acquire nuclear weapons. Referring to the same, Putin remarked,
“Let’s acquire nuclear weapons, they say. We can’t simply ignore it.”
On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine in the name of defending the DPR and LPR from the Ukrainian army. The Russian president said that he aims for the “demilitarization and denazification” of the country with the help of this operation.
The invasion, according to Ukraine was unprovoked. It requested the assistance from the international community. Following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, many western and NATO countries have imposed several economic sanctions on Russia.
Edited by: Kiran Maharana
Published by: Vishakha Verma
