Moscow, 26 February 2022 (TDI) : In a dramatic move, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a temporary halt to the Russian military operation in Ukraine on Friday afternoon in connection with the expectation of negotiations with Kyiv. Russian State media Sputnik reporting.
The operation was resumed on Saturday afternoon after the Ukrainian leadership refused to negotiate, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Russia and its allies from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics launched a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday aimed at “demilitarising and denazifying” the country in the face of a security crisis unseen in Europe in decades.
Ukraine Crisis
Amidst arising uncertainty, the entire world’s attention is fixated on Russia and Ukraine as on 24th February, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine at the behest of its Security Council that convened a day before.
Prior to this, a day before, Russia also recognized the Republics of the Luhansk and Donetsk, much to the West’s chagrin. The Donetsk and Luhansk are a part of the Donbas region that is pro-Russia territory.
Recently, Western countries had been alleging Russia about troops’ deployment on the border of Ukraine. However, Russia had been denying the allegations by claiming that it has no intention to invade Ukraine.
One of the main issues of contention between Russia and the EU/US is NATO’s beefed-up defenses in northeastern Europe and Ukraine’s intent to join NATO. They held a series of negotiations between Russian and Western counterparts to avert escalation. Though, that indelibly failed.
According to Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s stance regarding Ukraine is a matter of principle. In this context, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated if attempts to come to terms on mutually acceptable principles fail, Russia will adopt an appropriate response.
Au contraire. The Ukrainian authorities had been alerting the world about an invasion. Throughout 2021 and 2022, Russia and the West had been engaged in a diplomatic tussle related to Ukraine.
The West kept accusing Russia of a military buildup on the border of Ukraine whilst Russia kept objecting to NATO’s expansionist agenda, which is considered a threat to its strategic security.
Tensions escalated between the two countries and led to strained bilateral relations. Despite the United States and EU sending strong messages to warn Russia, the threat of economic isolation couldn’t deter Russia from compromising on what it considers its national interest.
US and allies are working together to put strict and severe sanctions on Russia for the military action in Ukraine.
