MOSCOW, May 8 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova – The West is likely to announce the referendums in Ukraine that will take place on Sunday are a Russian ploy, the co-author of the book “Putin's New Russia” Jon Hellevig told RIA Novosti.
“I think there will be an attempt in the West to declare that this was just a ploy that Russia pulled,” Hellevig said. “They will say that Putin made this announcement in order to give the appearance of showing restraint and trying to cool the rebels, knowing that Donetsk would reject it anyway.”
On Thursday, the mainly Russian-speaking southeastern region of Luhansk, along with Donetsk Region, announced their decision to go ahead with referendums on self-determination.
The vote is scheduled for May 11. The regions have refused to recognize the legitimacy of Ukraine’s interim government. The West has already labeled federalization supporters in eastern and southeastern Ukraine as separatists, while supporting the Kiev authorities.
The US has imposed a third round of sanctions on Russia saying Moscow was responsible for the escalation of tensions in Ukraine after the Geneva agreement. The EU and Japan followed suit.
Hellevig said that no one knows how much influence Russia wields on the rebels in the Donetsk Basin region, known as the Donbas. “I am naturally convinced that Putin is genuinely interested in doing all he can to promote a peaceful settlement,” he said.
“There are now signs that this whole situation stinks of a new Cuban Crisis, only that this time around happens at Russia's border. We have already heard speculation about there being a counterattack by NATO forces if Russia would intervene militarily in Ukraine,” Hellevig told RIA Novosti.
“And if Russia does not intervene, then there is a risk for a protracted real civil war and more atrocities like the Odessa massacre and a humanitarian catastrophe,” he added.
Kiev’s parliament-appointed acting authorities ousted the country’s elected president, Viktor Yanukovych, in late February following the so-called Euromaidan mass rallies in Kiev and scheduled early presidential elections for May 25.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday urged pro-federalization activists in southeastern Ukraine to postpone the referendums to ensure the start of nationwide dialogue. Pro-federalization activists in both Luhansk and Donetsk refused to put off the vote, which Putin said would have been “a step toward the Ukrainian people rather than a step toward the [interim government in] Kiev.”
Kiev has launched a special operation to crack down on the protesters, leading to violent clashes in southeastern Ukraine and dozens of casualties. Last Friday, 46 protesters were killed and over 200 were injured in the port city of Odessa. Ukrainian Secretary to the Committee on National Security Andriy Parubiy said earlier Thursday that operations would continue regardless of the decision of the Donetsk People’s Republic to hold a referendum on the region’s status or not.
Russia has repeatedly condemned Kiev’s military operation against the restive regions and urged an immediate withdrawal of Ukrainian troops, as well as the start of comprehensive national dialogue to de-escalate the situation in the crisis-hit country.
