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President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that widespread escalation and war between Russia and Ukraine would not happen. He stated this at the joint press conference with President of Estonia Alar Karis following the meeting on February 22 in Kyiv.
“We do not believe in the full-fledged war against Ukraine and escalation on the part of the Russian Federation,” Ukraine’s President stated.
The parties call on the Russian Federation to choose the path of diplomacy, to take urgent steps to de-escalate and stop the destabilization of the security situation in and around Ukraine, in particular, to withdraw its armed forces from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and from the immediate vicinity of the Ukrainian border.
“The parties state that Russia’s recognition of the so-called “Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics” affirms a conscious unilateral withdrawal from the Minsk agreements and is a clear violation of international law, the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the most serious blow to the political-diplomatic settlement, which Ukraine and its partners are actively working to promote,” reads the message.
Read also: Kremlin’s recognition of Ukraine’s breakaway regions is new Berlin wall, – Defense Minister
Putin signed a decree recognizing the areas, this move might justify Russia’s attack in those locations and an agreement of cooperation with the heads of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic. The militants do not control the entirety of their regions.
Following a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Putin’s decision could mean Russia’s unilateral withdrawal from the Minsk agreements and ignoring decisions within the “Normandy format talks.”
Ukraine qualifies Russia’s latest actions as a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state, President Volodymyr Zelensky in an address following a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council stated.
Foreign Ministers of the Baltic states – Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia – will pay an official visit to Kyiv this week amid escalation in Donbas.
