Putin 'not interested' in diplomatic solution, says analyst
On Monday (February 21), Putin recognized the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent and ordered the Russian army to launch what Moscow called a peacekeeping operation into the area, accelerating a crisis the West fears could unleash a major war.
"After weeks of wondering what what cards Putin was going to play, it seems that he's not interested in a diplomatic solution," says Kelly, who now teaches International Relations at Northwestern University.
It was not immediately clear whether the Russian military action would be regarded by the West as the start of an invasion of Ukraine that the United States and its allies have warned about for weeks since the area was already controlled by Russian-backed separatists and Moscow in practice.
Putin's recognition of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics kills the Minsk peace process in eastern Ukraine, where a conflict in the region known as Donbass between government forces and Moscow-backed separatists has cost 15,000 lives. The Minsk set of agreements was signed in 2014 and 2015 by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany as a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
