UN Secretary-General Denies Putin's Allegations of Genocide in Donbass | News from Germany about Russia

UN Secretary-General António Guterres denied the statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin about the genocide taking place on the territory of Donbass. Commenting on his statement and the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday, February 22, Guterres indicated that the concept of genocide has a clear definition and must be applied in accordance with international law. “I don’t think this is the case in this case,” he stressed.

Guterres also noted that the entry of Russian troops into the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions will not be a peacekeeping operation. “When the troops of one country enter the territory of another country without its consent, they are not impartial peacekeepers. They are not peacekeepers at all,” he added.

The decision of the Russian Federation contradicts the UN Charter

“The decision of the Russian Federation to recognize the so-called “independence” of certain regions of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions is a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine,” the head of the UN further stressed. He pointed out that this measure “directly contradicts” the principles of the UN Charter and is a “mortal blow” to the Minsk agreements approved by the UN Security Council.

“The principles of the UN Charter are not a restaurant menu. They cannot be applied selectively. Member States have accepted all of them and must apply all of them,” Guterres said.

Escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine

On February 15, Putin announced the “genocide” in the Donbas during a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. On the evening of February 21, the Russian Federation recognized the separatist “Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics”, and the next day the Russian president announced that the independence of the “DNR” and “LNR” is recognized within the borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. The Federation Council of the Russian Federation allowed the president to use the army in eastern Ukraine, near the borders of which a powerful group of Russian troops numbering about 150 thousand soldiers is already concentrated.

The world community has sharply condemned the gross violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. The West fears a military escalation of the conflict. The European Union, Great Britain, the United States, followed by Canada, Japan and Australia have decided on new sanctions against Russia. Meanwhile, Kiev is preparing to introduce a state of emergency throughout the country, except for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where it has been operating since 2014. The corresponding decision was made by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, after which it is considered by the Verkhovna Rada.

See also:

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the creation of the CIS

In December 1991, Ukraine, Russia and Belarus documented the collapse of the USSR. Moscow apparently hoped to maintain influence through the CIS and cheap gas supplies. But it turned out differently. The Russian Federation and Belarus created a union state, Ukraine increasingly looked to the West. In the photo: Leonid Kravchuk, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Boris Yeltsin and Stanislav Shushkevich during the official founding of the CIS in Almaty.

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

Legacy of the USSR and the Budapest Memorandum

Ukraine inherited from the USSR almost a million strong army and the 3rd largest nuclear arsenal in the world. Kiev refused the missiles, handing them over to Russia in exchange for economic assistance and security guarantees (Budapest Memorandum of 1994). While the West did not reciprocate Kiev and was not going to integrate it into its structures, the reaction of the Russian Federation was restrained. In the photo: Russian and US leaders Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton.

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

Cracks in Post-Soviet Friendship: Tuzla Conflict

The first major diplomatic crisis between Moscow and Kiev occurred under President Putin. In the fall of 2003, Russia suddenly began building a dam in the Kerch Strait towards the Ukrainian island of Tuzla. Kiev considered this an attempt to redistribute borders. The conflict was resolved after a personal meeting of the presidents. Construction was stopped, but the first cracks appeared on the facade of friendly relations between the two countries.

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

Orange Revolution 2004

In the presidential elections in Ukraine in 2004, the Russian Federation actively supported the pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovych, but the Orange Revolution prevented him from winning amid accusations of fraud. Pro-Western politician Viktor Yushchenko became president. His victory became the starting point for changes in the policy of the Russian Federation, designed to prevent what Moscow calls “color revolutions.”

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

Shutting off Ukraine’s “gas valve” in the 2000s

During Viktor Yushchenko’s presidency, the Russian Federation twice shut off Ukraine’s “gas valve” – in 2006 and 2009, which led to interruptions in transit supplies to Europe. In the photo: a Gazprom employee at the Sudzha gas measuring station, 200 meters from the Ukrainian border, Kursk Region, Russia, 2009.

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

The promise of NATO membership

The key event happened in 2008. At the NATO summit in Bucharest, US President George W. Bush tried to get Ukraine and Georgia to receive a Membership Action Plan (MAP). Putin sharply objected, making it clear that he did not fully recognize the independence of Ukraine. As a result, Germany and France blocked Bush’s plan. Ukraine and Georgia were promised NATO membership, but no date.

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

Ukraine’s course towards the European Union

It was not possible to move quickly towards joining NATO, and Ukraine set a course for economic rapprochement with the EU. In the summer of 2013, the Russian Federation began to exert massive pressure on Kiev, almost cutting off Ukrainian exports at the border. The Yanukovych government has suspended preparations for signing an association agreement with Brussels. Soon protests began in Ukraine, in February 2014 Yanukovych fled to Russia.

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

Russian annexation of Crimea

A power vacuum emerged in Ukraine, in March 2014 Russia annexed Crimea. This was a turning point, the beginning of an undeclared war. Pictured: Russian military in Crimea (Simferopol, March 2014).

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

War in Donbass

At the same time, Russian and local paramilitary structures provoked an outbreak of separatism in the Donbass, “people’s republics” were proclaimed in Donetsk and Lugansk, which were led by people who had come from the Russian Federation in unmarked uniforms. Kiev reacted slowly, waiting for the presidential elections at the end of May 2014, and only then decided on a large-scale use of force.

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

Birth of the Normandy Format

In early June 2014, in France, at events marking the 70th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy, newly elected President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko met for the first time with his Russian counterpart Putin through the mediation of the leaders of Germany and France. This is how the “Norman format” was born.

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

“Ilovaisky cauldron”

In the summer of 2014, the Ukrainian army began to push back the separatists, but at the end of August, Russia, according to Kiev, used its army on a large scale in the Donbass. Moscow denies this. The peak of the conflict was the defeat of the Ukrainian forces near Ilovaisk. The war along the entire front line ended with the signing of a ceasefire in Minsk in September, which was quickly broken.

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

Positional war continues

In early 2015, the separatists went on a broad offensive. Kiev accused Moscow of using an unmarked army, the Russian Federation denied everything. Ukrainian forces were defeated near the city of Debaltseve. Then, with the mediation of Germany and France, “Minsk-2” was signed, an agreement that still remains the main document for the settlement of the conflict. None of its points has been fully implemented.

A Brief History of the Ukrainian-Russian Confrontation

The concentration of Russian troops on the border of Ukraine

In 2021, there was a new aggravation. Russia twice, in spring and autumn, drew up its troops to the western borders. Ukrainian and Western intelligence reports about the threat of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. To defuse the situation, a series of international negotiations took place in the West. However, the Russian Federation demands guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO and lets know that it is not going to withdraw troops yet.

Author: Roman Goncharenko