Putin demands 'statehood' for southeast Ukraine
Call comes while pro-Russian forces push westwards and Russian foreign minister urges Ukraine to withdraw
Vladimir Putin has called for immediate talks on granting "statehood" to southeast Ukraine as pro-Russian forces intensify their assault on Ukrainian cities.
Negotiations for a ceasefire between Ukraine and its separatists are continuing in Belarus, with Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov urging Ukraine to withdraw troops from its own territories.
The Times says Putin's call will "raise the spectre of a new Russian puppet state inside Europe". It says Putin has started referring to the Donbass region as "Novorossiya" in reference to its past as a province of Russia under the Tsars.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Days ago, Putin compared the Ukrainian government to Nazis and warned the West: "Don't mess with us."
Speaking yesterday on state TV, Putin said talks should focus "not just on technical issues but on the political organisation of society and statehood in southeastern Ukraine". He said Moscow could not stand by while people were shot "almost at point blank".
The president's latest intervention comes after pro-Russian rebels last week achieved a string of successes. On Saturday they were accused of killing hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and taking dozens more prisoner. In the first naval attack of what seems to be a nascent civil war, a Ukrainian vessel in the Azov sea was fired on yesterday.
While Russia denies supporting the rebels, Nato insists that the latest gains are on the back of "more and more overt" military assistance, including the deployment of more than 1,000 troops with heavy weaponry and armoured vehicles. Russia is thought by many observers to have supplied the rockets which downed MH17.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
BBC news says Putin's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has demanded that Ukraine pull back troops from its own territory in order to negotiate an "immediate ceasefire". He said troops "must leave positions from which they can harm the civilian population".
-
‘Businesses that lose money and are uncompetitive won’t survive’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Film reviews: Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Frankenstein, and Blue MoonFeature A rock star on the rise turns inward, a stressed mother begins to unravel, and more
-
Podcast reviews: ‘Fela Kuti: Fear No Man,’ ‘David Bowie: Changeling’ and ‘The Adam Friedland Show’feature Fela Kuti’s revolutionary life, David Bowie’s early years, and Adam Friedland reinvents the talk show
-
Ukraine: Donald Trump pivots againIn the Spotlight US president apparently warned Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept Vladimir Putin’s terms or face destruction during fractious face-to-face
-
The UK-made Storm Shadow missiles Ukraine is using in RussiaThe Explainer Ukraine reportedly deployed the long-range British missiles this week, following a tense meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump
-
Proposed Trump-Putin talks in Budapest on holdSpeed Read Trump apparently has no concrete plans to meet with Putin for Ukraine peace talks
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
Remaking the military: Pete Hegseth’s war on diversity and ‘fat generals’Talking Point The US Secretary of War addressed military members on ‘warrior ethos’
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sitesSpeed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training