Commenting on the current Ukrainian crisis and the Russian recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk independent People’s Republic, India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday said that the current situation invokving Ukraine is a result of post-Soviet politics, the subsequent expansion of NATO and the relation between Europe (read European Union) and Russia.
“The situation in Ukraine is the result of a complex chain of circumstances over the last thirty years. Most countries, such as India and France, which is very active, are seeking a diplomatic solution… In the case of Ukraine, a lot of it derives from the post-Soviet politics, the expansion of NATO, the dynamics between Russia and Europe, and Russia and the West broadly,” Minister Jaishankar said in an interview to French newspaper Le Figaro.
FM Jaishankar also stressed upon the need to follow the path of diplomacy to find credible solutions by engaging with all the parties involved in the conflict, instead of hollow posturings which only aggravate the situation.
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“The real question is: are you mobilised to find a good solution or are you content with posturing? India can talk with Russia, with other countries, within the UN security council and support initiatives like those of France,” FM Jaishankar further said.
The Russian President on Monday signed a decree to recognise the two provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk of the Donbas region as independent People’s Republic.
“I consider it necessary to make a long overdue decision -- to immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of the DPR and the LPR,” President Putin said in a televised broadcast.
He has also ordered his Defence Ministry to mobilise “peace-keeping troops” in the two republics to ensure law and order in the region. Ukraine is currently surrounded by around 1,50,000 Russian troops in its eastern front.
The US President Biden, on Wednesday, announced sanctions on Russian financial institutions as a counter-measure.
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“We are implementing full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions: VEB and their military bank… We are implementing comprehensive sanctions on Russia's sovereign debt. That means we have cut off Russia's government from Western financing. It can no longer raise money from the West and can not trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either,” Biden said.
