Call for help from the west
Zelenskyj: “We are not afraid”
02/22/2022, 02:16 am
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has responded to Russia’s recognition of the separatist areas in the Donbass with a declaration of war. “We are not afraid of anything or anyone,” said the head of government. At the same time he is asking the West for “effective” support.
After Moscow recognized the separatist areas in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced Russia’s violation of his country’s sovereignty. Ukraine expects “clear” and “effective” support from the West, Zelenskyj said in a speech during the night. Referring to the Russian approach, he added: “We are not afraid of anything or anyone.”
Zelenskyy further ruled out any territorial concessions. “Despite Russian statements, Ukraine’s international borders will remain in place. We will not give anyone anything.” By recognizing the territories as independent, Russia is violating the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. The move destroys peaceful efforts to resolve the conflict. “We want peace,” declared Zelenskyj.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously ordered the deployment of Russian troops to eastern Ukraine. The army should ensure the maintenance of “peace” in the separatist regions, it said on Monday evening in two decrees to the Ministry of Defense. Putin had recently recognized the independence of the pro-Russian, so-called “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk after declaring that the Minsk agreements for peace in eastern Ukraine had failed.
Neither the timetable nor the extent of the deployment of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine was specified in the two decrees, each one page long. In the agreements signed by Putin with the pro-Russian militias in the two “People’s Republics”, however, joint use of military bases and joint defense of the borders was agreed.
Violence in the pro-Russian separatist areas had steadily increased in recent days. According to the West, Russia has had up to 150,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine for weeks.