When will Russia stop invading Ukraine? During an exchange, Monday, February 28, with Emmanuel Macron, the President-in-Office of the Council of the European Union, Vladimir Putin set as conditions for the cessation of fighting the recognition of Crimea as Russian territory, the demilitarization and “denazification” of Ukraine, as well as a “neutral status” for the country. SThese demands were refused by Ukraine during a first round of negotiations on Monday at the Belarusian border.
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“These talks took place against a backdrop of shelling and shooting”denounced on Tuesday March 1 the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, who is calling for a “cease fire immediate” and the “withdrawal of troops [russes] of Ukrainian territory”. Regulations “is only possible if Russia’s legitimate security interests are unconditionally taken into account”, repeated the Kremlin, adding to hope that the negotiations “would lead to the expected results”.
Franceinfo returns to the demands of the Russian president, while the Europeans and their allies plan to take additional sanctions against Moscow.
A demilitarization of Ukraine
“We will strive to achieve demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine”Vladimir Putin said in a publication on the morning of the assault, on February 24. “We do not have in our plans an occupation of Ukrainian territories, we do not intend to impose anything by force on anyone”he assured, calling on the Ukrainian military “to lay down arms”.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has, for its part, cited the “neutralization of military potential” of Ukraine, which “has recently been strongly developed, including through the activities of foreign countries”. The army is targeting, according to Russian news agencies, the sites Ukrainian soldiers with “high precision weapons”. From the first day of the invasion, the Russian army claimed to have destroyed “with success” Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense systems and put “out of order” airbases across the country, without giving details.
Ukraine’s withdrawal from NATO
Russia demands that Ukraine renounce for good to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (which brings together 30 countries, including France and the United States), considering have been “betrayed” by NATO. Already in December 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded that NATO withdraw “formally” a 2008 decision opening the door to membership for Ukraine and Georgia. The Russian authorities then demanded that NATO stop conducting military exercises near the Russian border. At the same time, Europe noticed that armed forces were positioning themselves near the Ukrainian border.
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This promise of non-membership of NATO was made in the 1990s. “When the Berlin Wall fell at the end of 1989, we wondered about the status of the future reunified Germany. Should it be neutral or join NATO?”, explains Jean-Sylvestre Mongrenier, associate researcher at the Thomas-More Institute and specialist in security issues in Europe, to franceinfo. In order for the USSR to accept the second option, then US Secretary of State James Baker assured Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev that “NATO’s current military jurisdiction will not extend an inch to the East”.
By setting the condition that Ukraine does not join NATO, Vladimir Putin continues “its strategy of building ‘buffer’ zones between the Russian Federation and the NATO countries (…) He has been saying this for years”notes Martine Mespoulet, professor emeritus at the University of Nantes, interviewed by France 3 Pays de la Loire.
Recognition of the annexation of Crimea
The Russian President demands “recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea”, a peninsula located in southern Ukraine, bordered by the Black Sea. Eight years ago, on March 18, 2014, an agreement was signed by Vladimir Putin for its attachment to Russia. Two days earlier, the Ukrainians of Crimea had acclaimed by 96.6% of the votes, by referendum, the attachment of the peninsula to Russia, at the end of a ballot which highlighted the deep divorce between Russians and Westerners.
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In 2014, this annexation was widely condemned by the international community, in particular the European Union. Russia has since been subject to numerous sanctions, particularly financial ones, which have been maintained until today.
The guarantee of a “neutral status” for Ukraine
From the day of the invasion, Thursday, theRussian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow was aiming to impose a “neutral status” to Ukraine. On February 22, two days before launching the invasion, Vladimir Putin already explained: “The authorities currently in power in Kiev refuse to join NATO on their own and stick to neutrality”. On Monday, the Russian president told his French counterpart to demand a “neutral status” of Kiev, as a prerequisite for the end of the invasion of Ukraine. Without further specifying the aspects that this neutrality could take.