Kremlin Says Separatists Ask Putin to Come to Aid Against Ukraine
The two self-proclaimed republics sought “help in repelling the military aggression of the Kyiv regime,” according to Russia.
(Bloomberg) -- Separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin for help fighting Ukrainian forces, the Kremlin said, a dramatic step that could open the way for Moscow to deploy troops there.
The two self-proclaimed republics sought “help in repelling the military aggression of the Kyiv regime,” according to texts published by state-run Tass. They cited articles of the treaties Putin signed with the separatist leaders on Monday that include taking “all available measures” to counter threats to peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a late-night televised address that Putin had not responded to a request to speak by phone. Zelenskiy said Ukraine posed no threat to Russia but would defend itself if attacked. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC that Moscow’s forces were at “final point of readiness across Ukraine’s borders, to the north, to the east, to the south,” though he declined to put a time on when any action might unfold.
Putin has for months sustained a large troop buildup around Ukraine, with the U.S. estimating around 150,000 soldiers are now in the area, alongside artillery and tanks. Russia has repeatedly rejected U.S. allegations that Putin intends to invade Ukraine as “hysteria” and propaganda.
“Hear us, Ukraine wants peace, the government of Ukraine wants peace. Wants and does everything it can,” Zelenskiy said. He added Putin’s support for the separatists “could become the first step to a big war on the European continent.”
Stocks fell across Asia Thursday, with equities declining in Australia, Japan and South Korea. U.S. futures retreated following a technology slide that pushed the S&P 500 further into a correction. Treasuries, the dollar, gold and crude oil all gained. Russia’s ruble rebounded in offshore trading after sliding almost 3% on Wednesday.
U.S. President Joe Biden has announced expanded sanctions, with penalties hitting the builder of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and Russia’s corporate leadership.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a text message that the appeal from the separatists came in a letter Wednesday. Copies of letters published by Russian news services showed they were dated Feb. 22.
The government in Kyiv denies it plans to retake the Donbas territories by force, but cease-fire violations on both sides have picked up in recent days along the line of contact dividing the adversaries.
Russia’s parliament formally gave Putin the authority to deploy troops to the separatist regions after he officially recognized them this week. The Russian president said Tuesday he did not yet intend to send what he called “peacekeepers” to eastern Ukraine, but would do so “as necessary.” He also endorsed the separatists’ claims to territory in Ukraine that’s outside their current control.
Putin demanded that Ukraine accept Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and renounce its ambition of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The separatists’ appeal to the Kremlin came hours after Ukraine declared a nationwide state of emergency, and as the U.S. and the U.K. continued to warn that Russia may be preparing a full-scale invasion. The European Union, U.K. and U.S. have all imposed fresh sanctions on Russia, but most have been relatively limited in scope so far.
Ukraine and its western allies charge that Russian forces have already been in the breakaway territories since their formation in 2014. Moscow denies that.
The Donetsk separatist leader, Denis Pushilin, demanded that Ukraine withdraw its armed forces from the line of contact dividing them, in an interview broadcast on the Soloviev Live YouTube channel. The Donetsk and Luhansk separatists hold about 30% of the territory of the two Ukrainian regions, with the rest under the control of government forces.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Putin of needing the separatist territories to be “battlefields.”
“The movement of Russian forces closer to the border, their movement inside” the separatist areas in eastern Ukraine is what led Kyiv to declare the state of emergency on Wednesday, Kuleba said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Wednesday.
Ukraine earlier said banks and government ministry websites were hit by a cyberattack on Wednesday that it blamed on Russia.
Asked about the request from the breakaway areas to the Kremlin, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called it an example of the type of “false flag” operation the U.S. has said was likely to occur.
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