A senior Kremlin official has warned that any major escalation by Ukraine in its conflict with separatists along the border with Russia will lead to Ukraine ceasing to exist as the world knows it.
Dmitry Kozak, who serves as deputy chief of staff to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said during a virtual discussion among experts on Thursday that in the event of a major offensive by Russia, Ukrainian forces would be forced to defend its citizens who currently living in the eastern Ukrainian border. regions that seven years ago declared autonomy of the central government in Kiev.
Kozak, who was himself born in Ukraine when it was merged with Russia as part of the Soviet Union, warned that it would lead to the collapse of the neighboring country.
“I support the assessments that exist within Ukraine that the beginning of hostilities is the beginning of the end of Ukraine,” Kozak was quoted as saying by the state-run RIA Novosti newspaper.
He described such a move by Kyiv as a “self-inflicted wound, a shot not in the leg but in the face.”
The remarks come the same day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to the front line amid an increase in clashes between his troops and rebels, accusing Moscow of direct support. Earlier this week, after talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, the Ukrainian leader said that Kyiv joining the Western military alliance would be the only way to end the conflict.
Kozak rejected this possibility.
“Where is NATO, where is the conflict in Ukraine, where is the logic?” Ask Kozak. “This is also the beginning of the collapse of Ukraine.”
AFP / Getty Images
As heightened tensions and intensified clashes around the seventh anniversary of the conflict in the Donbas region have largely been frozen over recent years, Kozak was not the only Russian top figure referring to Ukraine that may have ceased to exist.
Referring to Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Channel One’s Big Game program last week that “those who would try to start a new war in Donbas would destroy Ukraine.” Other top officials in Moscow have issued similar language over the years.
The Russian president discussed the war on Wednesday during a telephone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who criticized Russia’s role. In a lecture by the German, it is said that the conversation is touched on, “including the increasing Russian military presence in the vicinity of eastern Ukraine.”
“The chancellor has demanded that this build-up be undone to aggravate the situation,” Merkel’s office said.
The Kremlin gave a different version of the conversation.
“Vladimir Putin has drawn attention to the provocative actions of Kiev, which are now deliberately exacerbating the situation in the line of contact,” the Kremlin said. It added that the two leaders’ took note of the need for the Kiev authorities to implement agreements earlier, especially those aimed at initiating a direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk and legalizing the special status of Donbass. formalize. ‘
The mostly Russian-speaking Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbas declared independence in May 2014 as two separate people’s republics amid nationwide unrest in the wake of an uprising that overthrew the central government in Kiev. Locals who support Russia have resisted the new Ukrainian government in these regions, as well as in the Crimean peninsula, which Russia attached after a referendum months earlier in March.
Donetsk and Lugansk’s independence is not recognized internationally, while the voice of Crimea has been accompanied by mixed reactions among members of the United Nations and international organizations. A number of Western powers considered the move illegal, and the US offered Ukraine military aid in their efforts to reclaim Donetsk and Lugansk.
The issue of US aid to Ukraine was at the center of a political scandal in 2019 in which former President Donald Trump was accused by Democrats of tying support to Kiev to a quid quo pro agreement that would lead to Zelensky claiming corruption investigation involving the son of Trump’s rival. Joe Biden, who would win the presidency next year. Trump will be indicted by the House of Representatives but acquitted by the Senate.
Since his appointment in January, Biden has expressed deeply critical views on Putin. Earlier this week, he made a call with Zelensky in which he “reaffirmed the unwavering support of the United States for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the light of Russia’s continuing aggression in the Donbas and Crimea”.
Although the conflict has been somewhat of a stalemate over the past few years, casualties have continued to increase at the front lines, increasing the estimated number of casualties to more than 13,000. The fighting has escalated in recent weeks, especially after Zelensky signed a March 24 resolution emphasizing the recapture of Crimea, which Russia has already reintegrated into its own continent.
LEXEY DRUZHININ / SPUTNIK / AFP / Getty Images
Apart from being subject to Russian investment in business, infrastructure and even tourism, Crimea and its largest city Sevastopol are also home to the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The elite navy regularly holds exercises in the disputed waters. On Thursday, the Russian frigate Admiral Essen artillery fire drills held at coastal targets on Crimea’s Opuk interspecific training ground.
Elsewhere, reports of Russian reinforcements arriving near the eastern front of Ukraine with Donetsk and Lugansk have raised concerns about a possible clash between the two parties.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby addressed the issue at a news conference Wednesday, in which he urged Moscow to explain whether the movements are part of routine exercises or not.
“We call on Russia to make clear its intentions on what they are doing with this series of forces along the border,” Kirby said.
Meanwhile, the US continues to supply Ukraine. The Pentagon announced last month that it would provide about $ 125 million in military aid during the 2021 financial year. The US, NATO and partners have also offered and planned future training in Ukraine and in the Black Sea region as part of the measures they have linked to what they see as greater Russian aggression.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement to the press on Wednesday.
“All of this does not contribute to security in the region, the resolution of the conflict in Donbass and does not cause serious concern for the Russian side,” Zakharova said. “We call on Ukraine and NATO countries to end the hysterical Russophobic propaganda campaign, to stop military preparations and the escalation of tensions in Donbass and to refrain from actions that could lead to the destabilization of the situation. in the east of Ukraine. “