Dear CCI Friends and Colleagues,
A few weeks ago, when the world was transfixed with the Prigozhin affair, Vladimir Putin made a few statements in Moscow that should have gotten our attention. In short, he declared that there is no sovereign state of Ukraine that Russia is required, by law, to recognize.
Two things about V. Putin have become evident to anyone closely following the Russia-West relationship over the past couple of decades:
- He rarely speaks frivolously.
- He knows, and is careful to adhere to, international law. (This statement will anger those who insist Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine is an illegal act of aggression. But it is always useful to recognize that whenever a claim of illegality is made, there is very often a coherent and persuasive counterclaim.)
Australian journalist John Helmer, who has been based in Moscow since 1989, reports on Mr. Putin’s recent statements below. The ramifications of the Russian position on Ukrainian sovereignty are provocative to say the least.
Please give the article your careful consideration and let us know what you think.
The Center for Citizen Initiatives
“Putin Orders Reality Check – No Ukrainians Left On The Battlefield, No Sovereignty in Kiev”
June 24, 2023
By John Helmer / Dances With Bears
In brief statements issued late last week in Moscow – their significance missed in the western press — President Vladimir Putin ordered a reality check of Russia’s war strategy. He then answered himself by declaring the war will be over when no Ukrainian army will be left on the battlefield, nor NATO weapons.
The Foreign Ministry answered by pointing out that Russia does not recognize there is a legal Ukrainian state because the reality is that the mutual recognition treaty between Russia and the Ukraine was cancelled by Presidents Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Zelensky in 2018 and 2019 [3].
“We can conclude,” Putin said [4] at the Security Council meeting on Thursday morning, “that they can certainly send in additional equipment, but the mobilisation reserve is not unlimited. And Ukraine’s Western allies really seem determined to fight with Russia to the last Ukrainian. At the same time, we must proceed from the fact that the enemy’s offensive potential has not been exhausted; they may have strategic reserves yet unused, and I ask you to keep this in mind when making fighting strategies. You need to proceed from reality.”