On August 8, 2008, the opening day of the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Russia launched a military offensive against Georgia. On February 21, 2022, the day after the closing of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, Moscow announced its recognition of the independence of two separate regions of Ukraine and sent troops to the region to maintain peace. This is purely a coincidence of time and has no more meaning.
Putin attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics
Putin waited until the Beijing Winter Olympics were over, and then he made a decisive move.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a televised federal security conference and delivered a speech announcing recognition of the independence status of the so-called "Donetsk and Luhansk Republics" in eastern Ukraine. The two regions declared independence as early as 2014 but have not been recognized by Russia before.
Putin said modern Ukraine was "created" by the Soviet Union and is "ancient Russian land." Ukraine is not only Russia's neighbor, but also part of Russia's historical, cultural and spiritual space, he said. Subsequently, Putin ordered the Russian Defense Ministry to send troops to the Eastern Region to carry out peacekeeping missions.
Interestingly, at this federal security conference, senior officials of putin's government expressed their views from a podium in turn, and the head of foreign intelligence appeared nervous and incoherent in his exchanges with Putin, repeatedly saying that he agreed to merge the two regions into Russia.
Putin had to correct his statement twice, "We are not talking about that, we are not discussing that, we are discussing whether to recognize their independence." ”
Putin convenes a federal security conference
On the same day, Putin signed a 10-year treaty of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with the leaders of the two "republics" in eastern Ukraine, which will be automatically extended for 5 years unless one of them voluntarily withdraws.
Under the treaty, Russia gained the right to establish military bases on the ground and reached agreements on mutual protection, military cooperation, and border identification. In addition, Russia will rebuild the local economy.
A Ukrainian soldier holds a machine gun
Western countries fear that Moscow could use the skirmishes in the region as a pretext for launching a massive offensive against Ukraine. Although pro-Russian forces claim control of the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, only parts of these two provinces are under their control so far.
Pro-Russian activists in Donetsk welcomed Moscow's decision
The White House reacted to the incident, with Biden speaking with Ukrainian President Zelenskiy and condemning Putin's recognition of the independence of two separate regions in eastern Ukraine. At the same time, Biden suggested that Zelenskiy should leave Kiev for security reasons. In addition, Biden also spoke with German Chancellor Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Meanwhile, the Biden administration introduced sanctions that prohibit "New investment, trade, and financing by Americans in connection with these two separate regions."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced sanctions on five Russian banks and frozen the assets of three high-net-worth individuals. He also said russia must be prepared to launch a full-scale offensive against Ukraine.
Germany has announced that it has stopped the approval process for the operation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
In the early hours of February 22, Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said in a nationally televised speech that Ukraine would not give up any territory. No matter what moscow makes, he said, Ukraine's internationally recognized borders will remain as they are.
Zelenskiy also said that Ukraine wants peace, supports political and diplomatic settlement of disputes, and is waiting for clear and effective support measures from Western countries, calling on the EU to immediately grant Ukraine membership status to protect Ukraine.
NATO's expansion has always been a major security concern for Russia, and Moscow has demanded that NATO provide comprehensive security assurances, including halting further eastward expansion and guaranteeing to deny Ukraine accession to NATO.
The United States and NATO say they are willing to negotiate with Moscow on missile deployments in Eastern Europe and military exercises in countries closest to Russia, but they have refused to accept Putin's key demands, namely, a pledge to ban Ukraine and other former Soviet republics from joining NATO.
Russia's actions have embarrassed the United States and NATO. If the United States and NATO intervene militarily, Russia will inevitably start a full-scale war, Ukraine will inevitably fail, and the United States and NATO will not be able to bear such consequences at all; however, the non-intervention of the United States and NATO has made people see how unreliable the security commitments from the United States and NATO are.
Russia's behavior has indeed challenged the basic norms of international relations on the "sovereign independence and territorial integrity of all countries", but the United States and other Western countries have long lost the moral capital to condemn Russia. On February 17, 2008, Kosovo announced its independence from Serbia, and Serbia said that independence was null and void and would never be recognized, but the United States and many European countries recognized Kosovo's independence the next day. Now the United States and other Western countries condemn Russia, but only sit on double standards.