Russia and Ukraine: what Putin is looking for when invading and 5 other questions about the conflict
After denying for months that he was planning an attack on Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military operation in the neighboring country on Thursday and warned that Moscow’s response would be “immediate” if anyone tries to confront Russia.
Several cities and facilities in Ukraine were attacked and the president ePresident Volodymyr Zelenskybroke off diplomatic relations with Moscow.
Putin’s latest actions take place days after he terminated the Minsk peace agreement in eastern Ukraine, recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhanks, two eastern regions controlled by pro-Russian rebels since 1991, and order the dispatch of troops there.
What happens after the beginning of the great Russian military operation in Ukrainian territory could endanger the entire security structure of Europe.
In these keys we explain what is behind it and what can happen now.
1. What is Putin looking for in Ukraine?
Russia has said that it is the “moment of truth” to reformulate its relationship with NATO (the alliance defense of the West that has increasingly gained ground in Eastern Europe) and has highlighted several demands.
First, he wants a legally binding promise that NATO will not expand more.
“It is absolutely mandatory for us to ensure that Ukraine never ever becomes a member of NATO,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
Putin has complained that Russia “has nowhere else to retreat to”. “Do you think we’ll sit idly by?” he launched.
In 1994, Russia signed an agreement in which he promised to respect the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine.
But last year, Putin wrote a long article in which he described the Russians and Ukrainians as “one nation” , and now he has said that modern Ukraine was created entirely by communist Russia.
He considers the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 as the “disintegration of historical Russia”.
Putin has also argued that if Ukraine joins NATO, the alliance could try to recover Crimea, the strategic peninsula that Russia annexed in 1990.
Their other main demands are that NATO not deploy “attack weapons near Russia’s borders” and to eliminate the forces and military infrastructure of the member states that joined the alliance since 1994.
That means Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries.
Actually, Russia wants NATO to return to its pre- borders .
In addition to alleged threats to his security and questioning Ukraine’s recognition as a sovereign nation, Putin accuses the Kiev government of being a US puppet.
Although saying rule out the occupation, it remains to be seen if Putin’s goal is to change the democratically elected government that runs the country.