Diplomacy by the United States and Western Europe has recently intensified pressure on Ukraine to legitimize the Russian-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (see EDM, July 31). Meanwhile, Moscow has almost fallen silent on this issue at the official level. Until the end of June, President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov were relentlessly asking Ukraine to enshrine the status of Donetsk-Luhansk in Ukraine’s constitution and validate the upcoming elections in that Russian-controlled territory. At present, however, Moscow is allowing Western diplomacy to cajole Kyiv into compliance.
Russia recognizes that it could never, on its own, persuade Ukraine to …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation