Russia has authorized its army to enter Ukrainian territory to “maintain peace”. Is this the beginning of a war against Kiev? Putin says he is “open to dialogue” on Wednesday, February 23, but the United States considers that “the invasion has begun”
Ukrainian separatists called on Moscow to help them repel an “aggression” on Wednesday and explosions rocked the separatist city of Donetsk in the east of the country, as the U.S. warned that everything was in place for a major attack by Russia on its neighbor.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia could unleash “a major war in Europe” any day now, and called on Russians to stand up to it.
In a late night speech, he said he had sought talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to no avail.
“I initiated a phone call with the president of the Russian federation. Result: silence,” Zelensky said.
He said Russia had nearly 200,000 troops and thousands of combat vehicles on Ukraine’s borders.
Hours after the separatist regions issued their appeal, at least five explosions were heard in the separatist-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Thursday morning, a Reuters witness said. Four military trucks were seen heading toward the scene.
For his part, Joe Biden, the U.S. president, said on Tuesday that this was the “beginning of a Russian invasion” of Ukraine. He will finally not meet Vladimir Putin in the coming days. This Wednesday evening, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the first sanctions against Russia: “Today, I ordered my administration to impose sanctions against [the] Nord Stream 2 AG pipeline and its leaders. These measures are part of our first tranche of sanctions in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.”
The West denounced the decisions made by Russia, which claimed that the peace agreements between Ukraine and Russia “no longer exist,” announcing several sanctions against Russian politicians and billionaires. Banks are also targeted.
At the origin, mainly, of the threat of an attack by Russia in Ukraine: the desire of the latter to integrate NATO, which does not accept Vladimir Putin. He has once again reiterated his opposition to this desire, which is a sine qua non condition for an easing of tensions.
