Iran Press/ Commentary: On February 21, Vladimir Putin first criticized the West for not paying attention to Moscow's security concerns, declaring that his country had recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics and signed cooperation and friendship agreements with their leaders at the Kremlin. Later, on February 24, Putin ordered a special military operation in the Donbas region in response to a request for military assistance from the Donetsk and Luhansk leaders.
"The main purpose (of the Russian military operation in Ukraine) is to help the people of Donbas, whose independence we have recognized," Putin said.
Under pressure from the West, Kyiv officials refused to follow the Minsk agreements aimed at resolving the problems of Donbas peacefully.
According to Putin, neo-Nazi branches were expanding in Kyiv, and the conflict with Moscow was inevitable, the only issue was the timing of the conflict. In President Putin's view, the reason is the refusal of the Kyiv government to implement the Minsk agreements in order to achieve a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and the fulfillment of its promises to the region, the spread of fascist and neo-Nazi movements in Ukraine, as well as the attacks of the Ukrainian army and militias on Donbas.
Meanwhile, Putin emphasizes that the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine was inevitable, given the circumstances and events.
This seemed inevitable given Ukraine's repeated requests to join NATO and receive massive military aid from the organization and the United States, besides NATO's insistence on expanding eastward and following the organization's recent movements near the Russian border.
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Putin's remarks were backed by Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is considered an ally of Russia. "If Russia's attack had been delayed for a short time, Ukraine would have hit Russia hard," Lukashenko told a news conference.
It is now 49 days since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, and so far, 25 countries have sent various military weapons to Kyiv. The Russians have stated that they do not intend to occupy Ukraine. As the war started, Western countries provided Ukraine with large arms shipments, but the largest supplier of Ukrainian military weapons is the United States. In addition to the previously announced military aid, US President Joe Biden plans to provide Ukraine with a new $ 750 million military package. Moscow has repeatedly said that sending Western weapons will only prolong the conflict and warned that Russian forces could potentially target such weapons. Joe Biden has also waged a psychological and propaganda war against Putin, referring to him in a variety of negative terms. Biden, for example, called Putin's attack on Ukraine a "genocide."
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Also, despite NATO's claim that it will not intervene in the Ukraine war, in practice, Ukraine is at war with Russia on behalf of NATO. NATO provides military equipment, logistical and intelligence support, and financial resources, and Ukraine's share is manpower for the war. The US-led NATO believes that if the war gets attritional, besides the human and equipment damage inflicted on the Russian military, and the current sanctions imposed on Russia, it will eventually lead to the collapse of the Russian economy and the reduction in the legitimacy of President Vladimir Putin.
Written by Seyed Reza Mirtaher
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