Putin furious at Ukraine for not accepting the Minsk Agreement
Vladimir Putin fiercely criticized Ukraine for not implementing the Minsk Agreement or accepting the Normandy Format proposals with Germany and France. Putin also referred to key provisions of the 2015 Minsk Agreements. He said that no progress has been made on fundamental issues such as the constitutional reform stipulated in the agreement, amnesty for all Donbass residents, local elections and the legal aspects of the special status of the Donbass. The Russian President also said that he would work in the interest of resolving the Donbass issues and would focus on addressing the difficulties in the observance of the Minsk Agreements.
Russia’s allegation – Genocide in Donbass since 2014
Russia alleges that the government, which came to power in Ukraine after a West-backed coup, has been waging war against the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics since 2014. The Donbass region has a large Russian-speaking population. In such a situation, there have been many violent demonstrations against Ukraine in this area. Ukraine has also used force many times to crush these demonstrations. Russia alleges that Ukraine is persecuting Russian-speaking people in the Donbass, due to which the people there are revolting.
What does Russia want from Ukraine?
Russia believes that Ukraine should end its relationship with the European Union. Since 2014, Ukraine wants to become a member of the US-led military organization NATO. This has greatly increased the security concerns of Russia. Russia does not want NATO to have access to its borders. Russia is also angry that because of Ukraine, the US military and other enemy countries are reaching its border. For the past several years, US military officers have been visiting Ukraine continuously. At times, American soldiers have also been seen on the border of Ukraine and Russia. Russia sees this as a huge threat and is repeatedly threatening to stop the escalation of tensions with Ukraine.
The story of relations between Ukraine and Russia
Ukraine is traditionally part of the Soviet Union. It was separated from present-day Russia at the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union 30 years ago. Many important sites, ports and military construction units from the era of the Soviet Union came to the part of Ukraine. However, after independence, Ukraine has traditionally remained a sympathizer of Russia. The relations between the two countries were very strong until the year 2014 when Viktor Yanukovich was ousted from the presidency. But, as soon as he left, an anti-Russian government came in Ukraine. This led to instability in the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine.