No one wants to be the loser of war.
When the Chinese bid farewell to September and start the 7-day National Day holiday, the international community is still in turmoil. The biggest "wind" naturally comes from the situation in Russia and Ukraine.
After the results of the referendum on entry into Russia in four Ukraine regions were announced, Moscow quickly held a "entry into Russia" ceremony for it.
September 30, a stage was built on the Red Square in Moscow, and there were many placards. The content of the placards was roughly part of these four regions that are part of Russia.
On the same day, Putin signed a decree to recognize Khlsong and Zaporoze as "independent", and the decree took effect immediately .
Since Putin announced a few months ago that he had admitted that the two places of Donetsk and Lugansk were "independent", the four places of Ukraine that entered Russia this time have "independent".
Later that day, Russia held a grand "Russia entry ceremony" for four regions, located at Kremlin .
The scene was very crowded, and almost all the major Russian officials attended the ceremony that day. Putin attended and delivered a speech and signed a treaty for four places to join Russia. At this point, these four Ukrainian regions have officially become Russian "territories".
In a speech that lasted more than 30 minutes, Putin accused the West of inciting hostilities in an attempt to turn Russia into a "colonial" and turn the Russians into "a group of soulless slaves."
Putin said that the West has been looking for new opportunities to destroy and weaken Russia, and is always thinking about splitting Russia and enslaving the Russian people, but Russia is a huge and great country, and the Russian people will never succumb to others.
Putin stressed that the choice of Donetsk to join Russia is a reflection of the will of millions of people and their inalienable right.
Putin also called on Ukraine to stop all hostilities, immediately cease fire and return to the negotiating table. This is the only way to restore peace, and Russia is ready for this.
But Putin also emphasized that the issue of belonging to Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporoze and Khlsson is not a question to be discussed - this is the choice of the people of these four regions, and it has been done, and Russia will not betray them.
After Putin's speech, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said that after the four Donetsk regions joined the Russian Federation, any attacks on these areas will be considered "invasion of Russia."
first held a "referendum to Russia", and then recognized its independence after the results were announced, and finally announced the absorption of these four regions. A series of operations were completed in one go, obviously Russia had planned it long ago.
But Putin's call was quickly rejected by Zelensky .
Zelensky said that Ukraine is willing to talk with Russia, but it is limited to dialogue with "another Russian president". As long as Putin is still the president of Russia, it is impossible for him to resume peace talks with Russia.
While refusing to return to the negotiating table, Zelensky also signed an application for Ukraine to join NATO on September 30, which means that Ukraine officially started the process of joining NATO.
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has been fought to this point, and our cognition has been refreshed almost every day. We can no longer use the previous standards to judge the development of the situation.
Whether Ukraine's four places "entered Russia" or Ukraine officially applied to join NATO, it is actually not surprising.
The war has lasted for more than seven months, and Russia has not been able to achieve the goals set before the war, namely Ukraine's neutrality, demilitarization and deNazization.
For Russia, every day of war lasts means more consumption and losses, and for Putin, this means greater pressure - This is a war after all. Although Putin's ruling status of is still very stable, there have been voices of anti-war in Russia.
When the established goals cannot be achieved in the short term, seeking "compensation" at the geopolitical level is one of Putin's few choices and an acceptable "alternative solution" for Russia. The ultimate result is that the four places in Ukraine "entered Russia".
Ukraine has always wanted to be a part of NATO. In Zelensky's view, as long as Ukraine becomes a member of NATO, it can be protected by the "collective defense" clause.
After Russia absorbed Ukraine, it obviously made Zelensky more eager to make Ukraine join NATO.
But as of now, it is not realistic for Ukraine to join NATO in the short term. After all, NATO cannot cause trouble for itself.
So the United States' statement is very clear, White House said that it does not support Ukraine's application to quickly join NATO, and Kiev's application should be conducted at "other time".
Finally, I want to say that the modern international system was established on the basis of the Westphalian system. An important feature of the Westphalian system is that it clarifies that national sovereignty and territorial integrity cannot infringe on , which is also the consensus in today's world.
Russia's security concerns should be taken seriously, but Ukraine's national sovereignty and territorial integrity must also be respected. Russia's behavior of absorbing Ukraine in four places is difficult to gain widespread recognition from the international community and will also lead to more complexity of the situation.
Moscow called for the restart of negotiations and emphasized that the four regions that "entered into Russia" this time are not issues that can be discussed. However, what Kiev wants is that the Russian army withdraws from all occupied Ukraine areas and also returns Crimean Peninsula .
Before this major disagreement is resolved, it is difficult for the situation in Ukraine to turn around.
