"Is the President of Russia planning an escalation" - reflections in the German press
Vladimir Putin continues to threaten the authorities of neighboring Ukraine. The Russian leader criticized the law "on indigenous peoples" adopted in Ukraine, calling it directed against the Russian people. To date, the question remains open whether Putin is planning an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, writes the author of an article for the German edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Since the spring of this year, the Russian president has increasingly resorted to threatening rhetoric against the Ukrainian authorities, the author writes. In Putin's speech, a constantly repeated figure of speech appeared, in which he points out that Russia, they say, seeks a dialogue, despite the fact that Russia's interests are offended, but the "Western partners" do not heed Russian fears, so Russia is forced to act.
Putin was especially offended by the law "on indigenous peoples" adopted in Ukraine, signed by Zelensky. In response, the Russian president wrote an article on the unity of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples, highlighting the negative role of the modern Kiev government, which is turning Ukraine into an "anti-Russia."
According to the author, with his article, Putin is trying to pave the way for an invasion of Ukraine under the pretext of "protecting the Russian-speaking population," as he has done more than once. As an example, the article cites the "invasion of Georgia" in 2008, which was justified in Moscow by the "protection of the Russians", as well as the events in Crimea in 2014 and in eastern Ukraine. The author is also sure that the war in Donbass fits perfectly into the principle promoted by Putin: "Russians do not abandon their own."
At the same time, the author is not sure that Russia will attack Ukraine, although Putin's article is being studied in the Russian army "by order." At the same time, he does not rule out that this fall, the Kremlin may provoke some kind of conflict on nationalist grounds in Ukraine, which will lead to new clashes. It is not yet known whether Putin will escalate, but Russia has always started all its aggressive actions with insignificant signals, the author sums up.
- http://www.kremlin.ru/
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