In the early hours of Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine – a dramatic move designed to guarantee the safety of the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics located in the Donbass region, and to achieve the “de-militarisation” and “de-Nazification” of Ukraine.
Putin announced the special operation as a direct response to a marked increase in “Ukrainian aggression” against Russian residents living in eastern Ukraine’s newly independent Donbass region. He said:
“Circumstances require us to take decisive and immediate action,” the order reads. “The People’s Republics of Donbass turned to Russia with a request for help. In this regard, in accordance with Article 51, part 7 of the UN Charter, with the sanction of the Federation Council and in pursuance of the friendship treaties ratified by the Federal Assembly and mutual assistance with the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, I have decided to conduct a special military operation.”
Moscow’s surprise lightning strike in the early hours of the morning was a devastating blow to US and NATO-backed Ukrainian forces.
In just a few hours, the Russian military had crippled most of Ukraine’s military infrastructure – including numerous airports, military bases, radar stations, anti-aircraft batteries, and weapons arsenals. This decisive assault effectively crippled any chance of a Ukrainian military response.
The overwhelming show of force appears to have forced a stubborn Ukrainian leadership to reconsider its previous intransigent position of ‘no negotiations’ with Moscow.
A group of Ukrainian MPs have called on their president to begin negotiations with Moscow immediately, or face “a real catastrophe” – said the seven MPs in an open letter to Volodymyr Zelensky today.
RT International reports…
Moscow is willing to negotiate terms of surrender with Kiev regarding the ongoing Russian military offensive currently taking place in Ukraine, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
According to Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his preparedness to engage in discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart, with a focus on obtaining a guarantee of neutral status and the promise of no weapons on its territory.
These are terms that, according to Peskov, would enable the achievement of the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, and eliminate what Russia currently views as a threat to the security of its state and people.
“The president formulated his vision of what we would expect from Ukraine in order for the so-called ‘red-line’ problems to be resolved. This is neutral status, and this is a refusal to deploy weapons,” Peskov clarified…
Continue this story at RT International
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