No early end to Ukraine crisis visible, Russia wary of NATO's expansion in eastern Europe: Former ambassador Tripathi
Feb 23, 2022
New Delhi [India], February 23 : Some Western countries have imposed sanctions against Russia over its decision to recognize Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities and an end to the crisis does not visible in the foreseeable future, former ambassador JK Tripathi has said and noted that Moscow is concerned about NATO's "expansion" in eastern Europe.
Tripathi told ANI that the two countries are in "a warlike situation".
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities escalating the ongoing tensions between the two countries. Ukraine gained independence in 1991 after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Ambassador Tripathi, a former Indian Foreign Service with 33 years of experience in diplomacy, said the sanctions imposed by the US will impact Russia but it will look for ways to deal with it.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced new sanctions against Russia and called President Vladimir Putin's moves in eastern Ukraine the "beginning of a Russian invasion". "We are implementing full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions: VEB and their military bank," Biden said.
"US's sanction against Russia's banks will hurt Moscow but not much because in many cases, it can always resort to the local currency in trade dealings with other countries," Tripathi said.
He said Russia would have an inkling of possible sanctions and may have taken measures to address the impact.
"Biden has also said that we will not allow any attack on any NATO members, we will not tolerate it. But Ukraine is not a NATO member. It will formally apply for NATO membership in 2024 summer, that was Ukraine's plan. So this threat also from Biden does not have any meaning," Tripathi said.
He also said that the Putin has indicated that the best solution to the issue would be if the Ukraine refuses to join NATO and maintain neutrality.
He said that Russia had apparently been given assurances that NATO will not expand towards eastern Europe.
Tripathi said Russia feels that if Ukraine joins NATO, the security alliance will be directly at its borders. "Russia does not like this as it is a security concern (for them)."
