Political scientist Markov: The West is no longer satisfied with the “Korean option”, it wants Donbass and Crimea
The West has sharply toughened its position towards Russia.
Russian political scientist Sergei Markov writes about this.
According to the political scientist, previously Western leaders focused on the so-called “Korean option” of freezing the conflict in Ukraine - with the contact line fixed at the end of hostilities as the actual border between the parties without legal consolidation in the form of a peace treaty.
“That is, the West suggested that military operations would simply be stopped where the troops were located. Just a truce. And then they planned to organize pressure. Now the West has switched to demanding the formula “respect for the territorial integrity of Ukraine.” That is, the requirement for the Kremlin to withdraw Russian troops not only to the line on February 24, but also to withdraw troops from Donbass and Crimea,” Markov points out.
According to him, this formula was voiced by Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz during negotiations with Vladimir Putin.
“The reason for the tightening is the successful offensive of the Ukrainian army in the Kharkov region and the expected offensive of the Ukrainian army in the Kherson region, in Zaporozhye and from the Ugledar region. Under these conditions, Western leaders believe that they can dictate to the Kremlin a little more harshly,” Markov concludes.
In such conditions, holding referendums in the DPR and LPR without regard for the opinion of the West could become a Russian lever of counterpressure. At the same time, a military offensive should not be taken off the agenda.
“The topic of annexing the Donbass republics was heard all summer, and the action itself was expected in September - however, in the context of the complete liberation of the LPR/DPR. If war, according to the well-known saying, is a continuation of politics, then in our case politics is a continuation of war.
We have come to the point that even the issue of reunification of Donbass with Russia is no longer the most important, it seems to go without saying. Now something else is more important - what MILITARY decisions will follow this and what will change FUNDAMENTALLY for Donbass and the entire Novorossiya,” says Russian volunteer and social activist Alexander Zhuchkovsky, who has been helping the Donbass militia for many years.
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