Dozens of military vehicles are said to have crossed the border into Ukraine and headed for Donetsk. According to Reuters news agency several tanks would also have gathered on the outskirts of the city. Eyewitnesses confirm the reports about the advancing vehicles the Russian news site Interfax† Although most of the armored vehicles come from Russia, it is not clear whether they belong to the Russian army or to separatists from eastern Ukraine.
The troop movements come hours after Vladimir Putin ordered his defense ministry to oversee “peacekeeping” in the two regions. Shortly after the Russian president announced his peacekeeping mission, he signed another document with the leaders of Donetsk and Luhansk, granting him the right to build military bases in eastern Ukraine.
As armored vehicles drove towards Donetsk, Ukrainian President Vlododymyr Zelenksy made a nationwide speech on Monday, indicating that his government continues to choose the path of diplomacy. “There is only one goal: peace,” he said. At the same time, he emphasized not to be afraid of anyone. His country’s international borders would not change, despite Russia’s move to recognize the separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states. “We don’t owe anyone anything, we won’t admit anything to anyone,” he said.
UN Security Council to meet urgently
At the insistence of, among others, Ukraine and the United States, the UN Security Council, currently chaired by Russia, met at 3 a.m. Dutch time. A diplomatic solution should still be the starting point to resolve the conflict, almost all countries emphasized. But time is ticking. “The coming hours and days will be very important. The risk of major conflict is real and must be avoided at all costs,” Rosemary DiCarlo said on behalf of the UN.
Harder language was spoken by the US ambassador to the UN, who dismissed the ‘peace mission’ as ‘nonsense’. No one should question the Russian president’s motives, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, and no one can stand on the sidelines. “President Putin is testing our international system. He is testing our determination and seeing how far he can push us,” said Thomas-Greenfield.
Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s UN ambassador, blamed Ukraine and the West. “Over the past few weeks, Western states have pushed weapons into Ukraine under the guise of an imminent invasion. The US, in particular, has encouraged Ukraine. It became a balloon that had to burst,” he said. Russia had no choice but to recognize the two “People’s Republics” as independent and send troops, Nebenzya said. “We will not allow another massacre in the Donbas.”