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Russo-Ukraine War - 21 February 2022

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On 21 February 2022 Putin said "Ukraine never had a tradition of genuine statehood. ... Modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia, more precisely, Bolshevik, communist Russia. This process began immediately after the revolution of 1917… As a result of Bolshevik policy, Soviet Ukraine arose, which even today can with good reason be called “Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s Ukraine”. He is its author and architect. This is fully confirmed by archive documents…"

In his extended address to the nation, Putin lamented the decision of Russia's Bolshevik government to sign the “humiliating” 1918 peace treaty with Germany, ceding huge swaths of territory, relinquishing all territorial claims in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, most of Belarus and Ukraine, among others. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of staking a claim to former territories of the Russian Empire, including to “all of Ukraine,” as well as Finland, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, three Baltic states, and “parts of Poland and Turkey.”

On 21 February 2022 the Russian Ministry of Defense and the FSB reported the destruction of two infantry fighting vehicles and five Ukrainian saboteurs on the border. "The subdivision of the Southern Military District, together with the border detachment of the FSB of Russia, prevented a violation of the state border of Russia by a sabotage and reconnaissance group from the territory of Ukraine," the press service of the Southern Military District noted. The FSB Public Relations Center reported "A detachment of the Border Directorate of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Rostov Region, together with units covering the border of the Southern Military District, discovered an unknown group on two infantry fighting vehicles that violated the border from Ukraine to the Russian Federation. The group was stopped and destroyed during armed resistance".

Vladimir Putin had telephone conversations with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron and Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Olaf Scholz. Vladimir Putin informed about the results of the expanded meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, which considered the current situation around Donbass in the context of the State Duma's decision on the recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. With all this in mind, the President of Russia said that he intended to sign a corresponding decree in the near future. Sergei Lavrov said he saw no other option but for Russia to recognize the Donbas self-proclaimed republics. "Thus, we will send a powerful signal to the Russian world." The "LNR and DNR" had already requested Russian military assistance. The separatists only control a third of the territory they claim. Medvedev said these are not just Russian-speakers, these are Russian citizens. They are Russian citizens because Russia handed out passports in the last few years.

In call with Putin, Chancellor Scholz "condemned plans in Russia to recognize the so-called Donesk and Luhansk People’s Republics as independent states. Such a step would be in stark contradiction to the Minsk Agreements for the peaceful settlement of the conflict..." Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov had told reporters on 16 February 2022 that "the recognition [of the DPR and LPR] is not in line with the Minsk Agreements." The press secretary noted "This is indeed the case". The European Union will ask member states to decide over sanctions on Russia should Moscow recognise the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in eastern Ukraine, the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said. "I will put the sanctions on the table and the [foreign] ministers will decide" whether to approve them.

Putin said 21 February 2022 that he no longer felt that the 2015 Minsk agreements with France, Germany and Kyiv would be able to resolve Ukraine's separatist conflict. "We understand that there are no prospects" for the implementation of the 2015 Minsk peace accords, agreed in the capital of Belarus to end fighting between Ukraine's army and pro-Moscow rebels in the east of the country, Putin told his security council.

In its first response after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin unilaterally recognized two Moscow-backed rebel regions in Ukraine, the White House said US President Joe Biden would prohibit any new investment, trade, and financing by Americans to these areas. “We have anticipated a move like this from Russia and are ready to respond immediately. President Biden will soon issue an Executive Order that will prohibit new investment, trade, and financing by US persons to, from, or in the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. “This EO will also provide authority to impose sanctions on any person determined to operate in those areas of Ukraine.”

Russia's upper house of parliament gave Putin permission to use military force outside the country. In a letter to the Russian upper house of parliament, President Putin formally asked lawmakers to approve the use of Russian military force outside the country. The move formalizes a Russian military deployment to Moscow-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, a day after Putin recognized their independence. A total of 153 Russian senators backed the decision, with no one voting against or abstaining.