Nato protection sought against ‘holidaying’ Russian troops
UKRAINE ANNOUNCED yesterday that it would seek the protection of Nato membership – raising the stakes in what it says is now a war with Russia.
The move, which would require the Ukrainian parliament to scrap the country’s non-aligned position, is a direct challenge to President Putin, who is viscerally suspicious of Nato expansion towards Russia’s borders. Fear of Ukraine being ‘‘drawn into Nato’’ was, the Russian leader said, one of the reasons for annexing Crimea in March.
Putin, 61, increased the emotional temperature on Friday by comparing Ukraine’s recent bombardment of the pro-Russian rebels’ main strongholds to the Nazi siege of Leningrad, in which more than half a million people died, including an older brother.
International reaction to the advance by rebels, backed by heavy Russian military equipment, has been muted – to the frustration of the Ukrainian public, and the soldiers and paramilitaries on the front line who say that they have been fighting regular Russian troops for weeks but are now increasingly being outgunned.
Nato membership would, of course, come with the full protection of a mutual defence pact with the United States, but it remains unlikely. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the organisation’s secretary-general, has, however, said that he respects Ukraine’s right to seek membership. He has accused Russia of a ‘‘blatant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity’’ which ‘‘defies all diplomatic efforts for a peaceful solution’’.
Pro-Russian rebels, who appeared to be on the verge of collapse a week ago, have transformed the campaign in east Ukraine in the past five days by opening a front along the coast of the Sea of Azov and driving Ukrainian forces out of large swathes of territory farther north.
There were unverified reports in the Ukrainian media on Friday that 60 Russian tanks, painted to look like rebel vehicles, were situated barely 10 miles from Mariupol, a large port and industrial centre on the Azov sea that is still held by the government.
At a pro-Kremlin youth camp northwest of Moscow, Putin told a state television reporter that Russia had no desire to get involved in large-scale conflicts.
‘‘We don’t want that and don’t plan on it,’’ he said. ‘‘But, naturally, we should always be ready to repel any aggression towards Russia. Our partners must understand that it is better not to cross us.’’
He said that it was ‘‘necessary to force the Ukrainian authorities’’ to begin peace talks with the separatist pro-Russian rebels who took over part of east Ukraine four months ago. ‘‘Russians and Ukrainians are practically one people,’’ he added.
Russia has not formally recognised the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic, but on Thursday Putin hailed their success against the Ukrainian military. He asked the rebels to open a ‘‘humanitarian corridor’’ for encircled Ukrainian soldiers to escape the combat zone.
Yesterday (Friday), Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, said that the corridor would be opened if Ukrainian troops laid down their arms.
A day earlier he had admitted that serving Russian soldiers were fighting alongside his men ‘‘while on holiday’’; part of a volunteer force of 3000 to 4000 Russians.
Ihor Dolhov, Ukraine’s ambassador to Nato, said that Ukraine needed weapons to defend itself.
Ukraine was denied a fast track to Nato membership in 2008 and then attempted to navigate a neutral position between the West and Russia in 2010, under President Yanukovych. He was toppled by protests in February, triggering the Russian intervention in Crimea.