(Moscow) Vladimir Putin as a fair, but severe tsar listening to his closest advisers on the geopolitical crisis around Ukraine, such was the play broadcast Monday on Russian television, before the announcement by the Russian president, in the evening, that he recognized the independence of the two separatist regions of Ukraine.
Posted at 5:37 p.m.
Meetings of the Russian Security Council are only rarely made public. But there, an exception was made, the dignitaries having to debate in front of the cameras the recognition of the independence of the two pro-Russian territories of Lugansk and Donestk which for eight years have been fighting the Ukrainian forces with the support of Moscow.
PHOTO ALEXEÏ NIKOLSKY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
In a nod to history, the hour-and-a-half-long meeting took place in the Kremlin’s vast and sumptuous St. Catherine’s Hall, the very one where Mr. Putin signed the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014. Crimean.
This decision buried the peace process initiated in 2015 under Franco-German mediation.
In a nod to history, the hour-and-a-half-long meeting took place in the Kremlin’s vast and sumptuous St. Catherine’s Hall, the very one where Mr. Putin signed the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014. Crimean.
The meeting, which was announced by the Kremlin for midday in Moscow, was broadcast at the end of the afternoon, under live conditions.
Around 12:45 p.m.
But a close-up of the opposition online channel Dojd on Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s watch showed around 12:45 p.m. (3:45 a.m. EST), as the broadcast began shortly before 6 p.m.
According to his watch, it was therefore filmed before the appeal of the separatist leaders of Lugansk and Donetsk to recognize their independence, in the afternoon.
During this choreographed meeting, Prime Minister Mikhail Michoustin, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and of Defense, the former President, Dmitry Medvedev (current Vice-President of the Russian Security Council), or even the heads of the services Intelligence and Houses of Parliament spoke to the master of the Kremlin.
PHOTO ALEXEÏ NIKOLSKY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
During this choreographed meeting, the ex-president, Dmitry Medvedev (current vice-president of the Russian security council) and other officials recited their lines in front of the master of the Kremlin.
As an anti-COVID-19 precaution, senior Russian officials appeared seated on chairs in the middle of the room, a good distance from Vladimir Putin seated at a white desk.
Russian officials competed in front of Vladimir Putin with harsh words about Ukraine, taking turns standing at a desk, also white.
Sergei Shoigu went so far as to accuse Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of seeking nuclear weapons.
“Ukraine has the equipment, technology and specialists to create an atomic weapon,” he said, as Kiev rightly gave up its arsenal inherited from the Soviet era in exchange for security guarantees.
The only woman in the assembly, the speaker of the upper house of parliament, Valentina Matvienko, considered it necessary to recognize the independence of the pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, in the face of the “anti-Russian” project of the West.
“The sanctions (which will be adopted in retaliation) will of course be painful, but the time has come, it cannot be postponed any longer,” she said.
Most of these Putinian executives felt that the time had come to recognize these separatist regimes, of which Russia has been accused for eight years of being the godfather.
“Sit down”
The Secretary of the Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, and the head of Foreign Intelligence, Sergei Naryshkin, moderated slightly, referring to the possibility of giving Kiev a “last chance” to implement the peace process.
Not understanding the position of his chief spy, President Putin berated him to “speak things clearly” and whether “yes or no” he was in favor of recognition.
Visibly stressed, his voice trembling, he confused recognition and annexation of separatist territories, before recovering after a new remark from Mr. Putin.
“Very well, sit down, thank you”, finally decided the Russian president, a sly smile on his lips.
This meeting ended on a note of suspense.
“I heard your opinions, the decision will be made today”.
He later announced Russia’s recognition of pro-Russian separatist territories in eastern Ukraine and ordered the Russian military to keep the peace there, launching Europe into a dangerous and far less predictable future than the choreographed scene he had just presided over.