Putin offers West to recognise Crimea; says Russia will provide military aid to DPR & LPR

The crisis in Ukraine might be settled by demilitarising the country and rejecting NATO membership, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on February 23. Speaking to the media after discussions with Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, the Russian President added that Moscow will offer military assistance to the People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR). Putin also said that the deployment of forces in Donbass will not be announced for the time being.  

"The first thing that everybody must do is to recognise the will of the people who live in Sevastopol and in Crimea," he stated while speaking to the media.

Following that, he added, Moscow offers Ukraine the opportunity to voluntarily abandon its plans to join NATO. He went on to say that Russia asks the West to stop supplying modern armaments to the existing Kyiv administration.

"Therefore, the main point - is demilitarization of the modern Ukraine to a certain degree, because this is the only objectively controllable factor, which could be supervised and which could be reacted to," Putin added.

Situation in Ukraine is an exception due to outside influence on country: Putin

Putin further stated that Moscow will not allow Ukraine's nuclear power status to be restored, adding that the acquisition of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine is a strategic threat to Russia. During talks with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev, Putin remarked that Russia respects the sovereignty of former Soviet republics, but that the situation in Ukraine is an exception due to outside influence on the country. It is worth noting that Putin reaffirmed Russia's support for Kazakhstan's sovereignty at the start of 2022.

"We intend to act the same way with regard to all our neighbors going forward. It’s different with Ukraine, and it’s related to the fact that, unfortunately, the territory of this country is used by third countries to create threats for the Russian Federation. That’s the only reason," he claimed at the press conference.

He told Aliyev that he spoke with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on the phone before the meeting began. The position in Kazakhstan at the start of 2022, in his opinion, is a fine illustration of Russia's policy of only supporting the sovereignty of its neighbours, strengthening it in every manner possible, and the example of Kazakhstan is evidence of this policy. Putin stated that when the CSTO mission in Kazakhstan was completed, the organisation's armed forces were withdrawn, and Russia and Kazakhstan continued to cooperate in all areas that benefit both countries.   

(With inputs from agencies)

(Image: AP)