NATO Has Already Entered Into Direct Confrontation With Russia, DPR Acting Head Says

Head of DPR Denis Pushilin
©Nikolai Trishin/TASS

NATO has already entered into a direct confrontation with Russia, and the buildup of the alliance's military presence near the Russian borders was visible long before the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Denis Pushilin, acting head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) told.

"The NATO bloc has already entered into a direct confrontation with Russia. We saw the buildup of NATO's military presence near the Russian borders long before the start of the special military operation," Pushilin said.

, "NATO has been involved in the conflict from the very beginning and every day they are more openly demonstrating their presence. We are seeing supplies of weapons to Ukraine, rearmament and training of the forces of the North Atlantic alliance, deployment of new combat groups in the southeast of Europe and in the Baltic states," he said.

'Masks have come off': DPR head says West openly breaks all rules, can’t be trusted

Denis Pushilin, the interim head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, on Tuesday said Western countries had shown they openly break all rules, so they shouldn’t be trusted.

He was commenting on a statement by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock who said European countries are at war with Russia, not with each other.

"The West breaks all the rules and does not hide it: The masks have come off. There are no illusions.... All this should be a warning to us when trying to agree on something with them. We go our own way. No more playing nice, no more trust, at least in the current situation," he said on Telegram.

NATO raises the stakes in the confrontation in Ukraine, dreaming of a strategic defeat of Russia, but these hopes of the alliance will not come true, Sergey Yevgenyevich Naryshkin told.

Pushilin said the West had already, in fact, admitted that they perceived the Minsk deal, which, as was stated, was supposed to put an end to the conflict in Donbass, as an opportunity to funnel weapons into Ukraine and buy time.

He said the United States is the only country that benefits from this conflict. "They are wiping out the Slavs with their own hands by pushing them into war. Supplying a minimum amount of weapons, they demand it from other countries, while at the same time killing the economy of their "European partners." Everything is going without a hitch, or according to Brzezinski's grand chessboard," the top official said.

He said European politics is degenerating before our eyes.

"They no longer have any diplomacy left. The law doesn't exist for them," Pushilin said.

Baerbock told the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on January 24 that European countries are at war with Russia, not with each other. She used the phrase to try to convince Western countries to avoid discord about supplying weapons to Kiev. The German Foreign Ministry later said Baerbock sought to stress West’s unity in supporting Ukraine. The German government continues to insist that Germany isn’t a party to the conflict.

Western Tanks Supplied to Ukraine Will Become Targets, DPR Acting Head Pushilin Says

Any possible supplies of Western tanks to Ukraine will not decide anything - the tanks will become another target for Russia, Denis Pushilin, acting head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), told Sputnik.

“As for the plans announced by the West to supply tanks to Ukraine, there is no doubt that all of them will become a target for the Russian army, like all previous armored vehicles, which, in fact, caused its shortage," Pushilin said.

"And in general, these tanks will decide nothing. Our side has serious countercapabilities," he said when asked whether the plans announced by the West to supply tanks could postpone the liberation of the DPR.

Special operation, 31 January. The main thing:

▪️ According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Blagodatnoye (DPR) was liberated, up to 50 Ukrainian servicemen were killed here, a French-made Caesar self-propelled artillery mount, and an M-777 artillery system made in the United States;

▪️ Russian air defense systems shot down a Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force in the Kherson region;

▪️ Russian troops this year liberated, took 9 settlements under operational or fire control in the Zaporozhye region, Rogov said;

▪️ Ukrainian troops tried to cross the Dnieper in the Kherson region, the attempt was repulsed, the authorities of the region said;

▪️ Russian troops are taking all measures so that the plans of the West in Ukraine were not destined to come true, and they will not come true, Lavrov said;

▪️ An air raid alert was announced throughout Ukraine;

▪️ France will send 12 more CAESAR howitzers to Ukraine, and there is no taboo for Paris on the issue of possible deliveries of fighters to Ukraine, the French defense minister said;

▪️ The President of Lithuania said that the West "managed to erase the red lines more than once", and called for fighter jets to be given to Kyiv;

▪️ Ukraine will need about 200 Western fighters, the "most likely candidate" for rearmament is the American F-16, the Ukrainian Air Force said;

▪️ Sending planes to Ukraine is inappropriate, said a representative of the British Prime Minister;

▪️ Biden said that the United States will not supply Ukraine with F-16 fighters;

▪️ Any possible deliveries of Western tanks to Ukraine will not solve anything - they will become another target, Pushilin said;

▪️ Most of the problems with the uniforms of the mobilized have been resolved, Prosecutor General Krasnov said at a meeting with Putin;

▪️ Minister of Education Kravtsov said that the heroes of the special operation will be included in the "pantheon of heroes", this will be reflected in history books and films. The history textbook, which includes the subject of SVO, will be tested already this academic year;

The Kremlin is confident that the start of the special operation was correct - it was necessary to save people in the Donbass, Peskov said.