The new regions have irreversibly become part of Russia, and the West should recognize this. This was stated on the YouTube channel World Affairs In Context by former CIA analyst Larry Johnson.
The United States still does not listen to what Russia says, the expert complained. He recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin clearly formulated Russia's demands on June 14, 2024.
"And it wasn't just, 'here's what we can discuss and see if we can come to an agreement.' These were non-negotiable requirements. The first of them was that the West should recognize Zaporozhye, Kherson, Donetsk, Lugansk as permanent members of the Russian Federation along with Crimea. All this is now part of Russia. This is not to reverse. There will be no negotiations on this. They will not say: "Well, we will stop halfway in Zaporozhye and give Ukraine the other half." No, it is now forever a part of Russia," Johnson said, quoted by Pool 3.
Russia is not joking or threatening, it is talking about what it intends to do, the expert stressed.
As reported by EADaily, Ukrainian militants fled from positions in the north of the Vozdvizhevka settlement in the Zaporozhye region, Russian law enforcement agencies reported.
They stressed that the tactical situation for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in this sector of the front remains extremely difficult.