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Russo-Ukraine War - 15 February 2022

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Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Ukrainians "We do not encroach on others, but we will not give up our own. We have a wonderful army. Our guys have a unique combat experience and modern weapons. This is an army many times stronger than eight years ago. We are told that February 16 will be the day of the attack. We will make it the Day of Unity. The relevant decree has already been signed. On this day, we will hoist national flags, put on blue and yellow ribbons and show the world our unity. We all want to live happily, and happiness loves the strong. We have never been able to give up and we are not going to learn that”.

The Russian parliament’s committee for relations with ex-Soviet countries supported two draft motions to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognize the Kremlin-occupied Ukrainian territories as independent. According to Russian media, they would be considered by the parliament on 15 February.

Sergei Lavrov stated that in their response to Moscow's security proposals the US and NATO reacted positively to some of the initiatives that they have been rejecting for years. He namely referred to the bloc's readiness to discuss arms control treaties for Europe. "The swiftness with which NATO has changed its position suggests that not everything is lost in relations with this bloc; [It indicates] that they can admit the obvious when they really want it", Lavrov said. The foreign minister also expressed optimism regarding a planned dialogue with NATO on Moscow's less pressing security proposals, like arms control in Europe. "I think that, thanks to the efforts in all these areas combined, a very good package can be worked out as a result", the minister said.

On 15 February Vladimir Putin held talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Moscow, Putin assured, would seek to resolve security issues through diplomacy and was ready to discuss the initiatives contained in the US and NATO responses, but only in combination with items that are of "prime value and paramount importance" to it. Russia, the President noted, has fears that the West may unreasonably delay the negotiations, and it intends to prevent this - the issue of guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO must be resolved "now, right now." The Russian Federation, according to him, will not be satisfied with assurances that Kiev will not become a member of the alliance in the near future: "They say it will not happen tomorrow. And when? The day after tomorrow? And what does this change for us in the historical perspective?"

Putin again stressed that Nord Stream 2 is "a purely commercial project, <...> there is no political coloring here." The gas pipeline is ready for operation from December 2021. "Let a German citizen open his wallet, look and answer the question whether he is ready to pay three to five times more for electricity, for gas supply and heat. And if he does not want to do this, let them say thanks to Mr. Schroeder, because this is his result, the result of his work. "

Scholz evaded answering the question of whether Nord Stream 2 would fall under the sanctions that the West promises to impose in the event of Russia's "invasion" of Ukraine.

Russia's lower house of parliament voted on to ask President Vladimir Putin to recognise two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent. The move by the State Duma, if approved, could further inflame a wider standoff over a Russian military build-up near Ukraine that has fuelled Western fears that Moscow could attack. Recognition of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics could kill off the Minsk peace process in east Ukraine. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters: "If the decision on recognition is taken, Russia will de facto and de jure withdraw from the Minsk agreements with all the attendant consequences."

The tense Russia-Ukraine border standoff showed first signs of thaw on 15 February after Moscow said that it is pulling back some of its forces to their bases. Russian news agencies said that the forces are returning to the bases “after completing their tasks”. After the pullout, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, "February 15 will go down in history as the day Western war propaganda failed,” she wrote. Ms Zakharova further said that the West has been “shamed and destroyed without firing a single shot".

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba telling journalists, “We and our allies have managed to prevent Russia from any further escalation.” He added: “It is already the middle of February, and you see that diplomacy is continuing to work.” Kuleba emphasized, however, that tensions remain high and Ukraine is still waiting for Russia to pull back its remaining forces. “If a real withdrawal follows these statements, we will believe in the beginning of a real de-escalation,” he wrote.

Starting from the afternoon of February 15, 2022, there was a powerful DDOS attack on a number of information resources of Ukraine. In particular, this caused interruptions in the work of web services of Privatbank and Oschadbank. The websites of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine were also attacked. As of 19:30, the work of banking web resources had been resumed. A working group of experts from the main subjects of the national cybersecurity system was taking all necessary measures to localize and resist the cyberattack.