Vladimir Putin has said Moscow is ready to look for 'diplomatic solutions' over Ukraine, but stressed that Russia’s interests were non-negotiable.
In a video address on Wednesday morning, the Russian president said his country would continue to develop state-of-the-art weapons.
His speech follows Russia’s unanimous approval to deploy 'peacekeepers' to two self-proclaimed republics in Luhansk and Donetsk now recognised by Moscow as independent
Continue reading...Analysis: advance forces’ battle readiness will quickly degrade, giving Putin only days to choose invasion or retreat
Russian forces massing near Ukraine’s borders can only remain in position for a few days before they have to be sent back to nearby bases or risk their capability being significantly degraded, western officials and experts believe.
That means that President Vladimir Putin will come under increasing pressure to use them in a full invasion of Ukraine – or send them back to staging areas, still in Russia’s south or west, but tens or even hundreds of kilometres back.
Continue reading...Morrison said the Russian government is acting like ‘thugs’ and ‘bullies’ as the likelihood of war with Ukraine escalates. 'Australia will always stands up to bullies’, Morrison said while announcing a suite of sanctions against Russian interests
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The president has threatened tougher steps for further provocation, preserving the potency of sanctions as a deterrent
Numerologists will be fascinated that Joe Biden began his Ukraine speech on Tuesday at 2.22pm on 22.2.22. The US president, however, was more concerned with his own calculation of the economic and political costs of overreacting – or underreacting – to Russia’s provocations.
Biden thought he would be remembered as the pandemic president, but finds himself commanding the arsenal of democracy in what could become the biggest military assault in Europe since the second world war. The crisis escalated on Monday after Vladimir Putin recognised two breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine as independent entities, an apparent pretext for invasion.
Continue reading...Joe Biden has announced new sanctions in retaliation for Russia recognizing two self-proclaimed republics, Donetsk and Luhansk, and sending troops there, adding to western efforts to stop what they fear is the beginning of a full-scale invasion. The measures target Russian banks and sovereign debt, among other steps. 'We have no intention of fighting Russia,' Biden said. 'We want to send an unmistakable message, though, that the United States, together with our allies, will defend every inch of Nato territory and abide by the commitments we made to NATO'
A day after Vladimir Putin recognised the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent, protesters gathered in front of the Russian embassy in Kyiv in a show of defiance against the Russian president's actions in their country. The Guardian's Luke Harding spoke to them about why they were protesting and what they thought of the recent escalating tension between Ukraine and Russia
Continue reading...As protesters condemn Russian president, city’s defence chief says it is ready for ‘any situation’
The doors to the Russian embassy in Kyiv were shut on Tuesday. Seemingly nobody was at home. Outside on the street a small, noisy crowd of demonstrators waved blue and yellow Ukrainian flags. “We are not afraid of Vladimir Putin. Or his army,” said one activist, Roman Tyschenko.
Behind him protesters banged kettle drums and broke into a rhythmic chant of “Putin huiylo”, to blaring music from a loudspeaker. “It means Putin is a motherfucker,” Tyschenko explained. “It’s our anthem. Football fans in Kharkiv invented the song in 2014, when Russia stole Crimea.”
Continue reading...Analysis: The west will adopt step-by-step approach, leaving toughest sanctions as last resort
After all the tough talk of the past month, the sanctions imposed on Russia by the west are unlikely to lose Vladimir Putin much sleep. The response to Boris Johnson’s announcement that five of the less important Russian banks and three individuals would be targeted was: is that it?
The most dramatic news was Germany’s decision to halt approval of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to western Europe. That will have an impact, but may end up affecting Germany more than it does Russia.
Continue reading...Analysis: While Xi and Putin have pledged closer cooperation, there are growing economic ties between Beijing and Kyiv
The unfolding crisis in Ukraine poses a diplomatic dilemma for China but also offers an opportunity for Beijing as Joe Biden’s administration is likely to continue to be distracted by Russia ahead of the US mid-term elections later this year.
China’s position in this round of Russia v the west is under particularly heavy scrutiny following Xi Jinping’s pledge with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on 4 February that there would be “no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation” in their bilateral relationship.
Continue reading...US and UK curbs on Russian banks and oligarchs are welcomed by Ukraine as strong ‘first move’; Zelenskiy rules out a general mobilisation
Ukraine’s defence minister says his country is “ready and able” to defend itself from Russia and says the world cannot be silent.
“Sanctions? Another brick in the wall? New Berlin Wall?” Oleksii Reznikov tweeted Tuesday morning local time.
Continue reading...The head of Russia's spy service has a tense exchange with Vladimir Putin during a security meeting about the Russian-controlled territories in east Ukraine. Sergei Naryshkin, chief of the foreign intelligence service, is interrupted repeatedly by the president and told to 'speak plainly!' Putin on Monday ordered his military to enter south-east Ukraine for the 'implementation of peacekeeping' in the self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk, which Ukraine and most of the world view as Ukraine's sovereign territory
Many in Russia’s capital are worried about the political and economic consequences of the Ukraine crisis
Like many of her friends, Tatyana, a barista at the fashionable Moscow coffee-shop chain Skuratov, was glued to the screen of her mobile phone as Vladimir Putin addressed the nation.
“Usually, I don’t watch television, especially when our president speaks. But I felt like I had to tune in this time. I was witnessing history in the making,” she said, smoking an e-cigarette. “But I am not sure yet if history is going in the right direction.”
Continue reading...Analysis: Russian president is toying with matches but has not yet lit the fuse, hence the west’s caution
Vladimir Putin’s angry and rambling hour-long potted history of Ukraine’s failings on Monday night, culminating in a commitment to recognise the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Luhansk, left western diplomats scratching their heads and wondering whether they had been made redundant.
The Russian president not only said he would recognise Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine, rendering eight years of negotiations over their future pointless, but he also signalled that Russia could not tolerate an independent Ukraine on its borders. Nato was hardly mentioned. His target at one point seemed to be the Bolsheviks, for relinquishing land to the nationalists.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson has claimed Russia is bent on a 'full-scale invasion of Ukraine' and said the UK would immediately impose economic sanctions.
Speaking after a 6.30am Cobra meeting, the prime minister said the UK was prepared to continue ratcheting up measures
Kenya has delivered an emphatic plea to Russia to pursue diplomacy, citing its own history. 'This situation echoes our history. Kenya and almost every African country was birthed by the ending of empire. Our borders were not of our own drawing,' Martin Kimani told the security council. 'Today across the border of every single African country live our countrymen with whom we share deep bonds.'
Continue reading...US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told an emergency UN security council meeting that Vladimir Putin's claim that Russian troops would take on a 'peacekeeping' role in the Donetsk and Lugansk areas was 'nonsense'. The late-night meeting took place after Putin recognised separatist areas of eastern Ukraine as independent. Member states called for diplomacy while Ukrainian representative Sergiy Kyslytsya called for an immediate withdrawal of occupation troops. 'The United Nations is sick. It has been hit by the virus spread by the Kremlin.'
Continue reading...Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine is 'not afraid of anyone or anything' after Russian president Vladimir Putin recognised separatist regions of eastern Ukraine as independent and then ordered in forces. 'Ukraine most certainly considers these last Russian actions as the violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country,' he said. 'All responsibility for all the consequences connected with the decision mentioned above lies on the Russian political leadership'
Continue reading...Russian deployment follows decision to recognise territories in south-east will be viewed in Ukraine and by other western allies as an occupation
Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to enter the Russian-controlled areas of southeast Ukraine following a decision to recognise the territories as independent states.
The decision to dispatch his troops to perform “peacekeeping duties” will be viewed in Ukraine and by other western allies as an occupation of the region and likely trigger tough sanctions and a Ukrainian military response.
Continue reading...Video released by Ukraine appears to show a column of military vehicles with their headlights on moving in convoy along a road. The officials said it was not possible to tell if the troops belonged to the regular Russian army, or were from Russian-controlled separatist units
Continue reading...Vladimir Putin has said Russia will recognise the independence of two territories of eastern Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). Following a televised address aired on the country’s state-run news channel, Putin joined the leaders of the LPR and DPR to sign a decree recognising the independence of the two territories