The fear of a military escalation in Ukraine, at the gates of which 150,000 Russian soldiers have, according to Washington, been deployed, has been at its peak since Vladimir Putin on Monday recognized the independence of the secessionist entities of Lugansk and Donetsk. The Russian president is “developing justifications to go much further,” said Joe Biden, 24 hours after his counterpart’s major decision. “There is still time to avoid the worst,” he added, however.
In Moscow, Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov read before the Senate a request from the Russian President to deploy troops in the entities of Donetsk and Lugansk, on the grounds that a “(Ukrainian) army of 60,000 men and heavy armor” would be ready to attack. Just after receiving the agreement of elected officials, Vladimir Putin once again denounced the abuses that Kiev is committing according to him against the separatists of Donbass.
He cast doubt on the timetable for sending armed forces, calling for a “demilitarization” of Ukraine, which would “better” to give up his ambition to join NATO to choose “neutrality”. “I didn’t say that our soldiers are going to go there now… It will depend, as they say, on the situation on the ground,” he said. Immediately afterwards, Russian diplomacy announced the forthcoming evacuation of its diplomats from Ukraine.