Dmitry Peskov at the Russian Geographical Society award ceremony in MoscowMOSCOW, February 22A possible break in diplomatic relations between Russia and Ukraine at the initiative of Kiev will result in additional difficulties in establishing relations between the two countries, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, told reporters on Tuesday. “This will result in additional difficulties, additional problems in establishing relations between our two countries. something needs to be adjusted,» Peskov said.Moscow does not want to sever relations with Kiev, the Foreign Ministry saidThe situation in Donbass has escalated in recent days, the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics have announced a lot of shelling by Ukrainian security forces. The leadership of the DPR and LPR announced the temporary evacuation of citizens to the Rostov region in connection with the threat of Ukraine's invasion. First of all, the evacuation concerns women, children and the elderly. The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, said that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky may soon order the military to go on the offensive, to implement a plan to invade the DPR and LPR. On Saturday, February 19, the leaders of the DPR and LPR signed decrees on general mobilization, and then turned to Russia with a request to recognize the independence of the republics. On Monday, after the Security Council meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the citizens of the Russian Federation and stated that he considers it necessary to immediately recognize the sovereignty of Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. He noted that the world prefers not to notice the horror and genocide in the Donbass, not a single day goes by without shelling, the killings of civilians and the blockade do not stop. As the president stated, in case of further bloodshed in the Donbass, the entire responsibility will be on the Kiev regime. Immediately after the appeal, the president in the Kremlin signed decrees recognizing the LPR and the DPR. In his decrees, Putin instructed to ensure the maintenance of peace in the DPR and LPR by the armed forces of the Russian Federation.Rada urged to disconnect Russia from SWIFT and freeze Nord Stream 2 At the same time, Russia does not want to break off diplomatic relations with Ukraine, said Andrei Rudenko, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation. He added that the Minsk agreements are not valid through the fault of Kiev. The United States and NATO countries, which supplied Ukraine with weapons and rejected Russia's demand not to expand the alliance to the east, condemned the decision to recognize the republics and threatened with serious economic sanctions. According to a senior US administration official, President Joe Biden, by his decree, banned American individuals and legal entities from investing in and trading with the DPR and LPR. Syria, on the contrary, expressed its readiness to recognize the DPR and LPR and work on establishing diplomatic relations. On Tuesday morning, Pushilin said that the situation on the line of contact in Donbass is not changing: shelling and provocative actions by Ukrainian armed forces continue. According to the People's Militia of the DPR, the Ukrainian security forces have strengthened the air defense grouping in the region by deploying Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems there. ridiculed the threats of the deputy foreign minister against RussiaPublished: Vladimir Lavrentiev
