Venezuela fully supports the attempts of Russian President Vladimir Putin to protect peace in his country and region. This was announced on Tuesday, February 22, by the President of the Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, on the air of the Venezolana de Televisión TV channel.
“The world thinks [президент России Владимир] Putin will sit back, not take action to protect his people? Therefore, Venezuela expresses its full support to President Putin in his efforts to protect peace in Russia, in the region,” the President stressed.
“We are confident that Russia will emerge from this battle even more united,” Maduro said. According to him, he supports any diplomatic means of resolving the conflict in Ukraine, which has become “practically a colony of the United States and Europe.”
Earlier in the day, Damascus supported Putin’s decision to recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR). Moreover, the Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad allowed Syria to accept the independence of the Donbas regions in the future, noting the solidarity of the SAR people with Moscow.
Western countries met the news of Russia’s recognition of the sovereignty of the republics with criticism of the decision. Thus, US President Joe Biden announced the introduction of the first tranche of sanctions against Russia with the possibility of tightening sanctions depending on Moscow’s actions against Kiev. He also announced the use of restrictions on Russia’s sovereign debt. According to the American leader, the new restrictive measures will come into force on Wednesday, February 23.
On February 22, the EU countries agreed on a new package of sanctions against Russia, which “will cause great damage to it.” 351 State Duma deputies, 27 more individuals and legal entities, as well as banks that finance operations taking place on the territory of Donbass will fall under the sanctions.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called the new Western sanctions against Russia illegitimate. The diplomat noted that Moscow has long understood that restrictions are the only tool of the West against the Russian Federation in order to restrain its development.
Such actions of the West were led by the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign decrees on February 21 recognizing the independence of the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. In addition, the Russian leader, as well as the heads of the republics, Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin, respectively, signed an agreement on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been conducting a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kiev blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the intra-Ukrainian conflict. The issues of its settlement are being discussed in the Minsk and Normandy formats.