Russia to liberate entire Donbas, unlikely to leave southern Ukraine: Ambssador to London

Russia’s ambassador to London says his country is going to liberate the entirety of Ukraine’s breakaway Donbas region and is also unlikely to pull out of the vast expanses of Ukraine’s south, which it has captured since the launch of its military operation in the ex-Soviet republic.

"We are going to liberate all of the Donbas," the envoy, Andrei Kelin, told Reuters in an interview in his London residence on Saturday.

"Of course it is difficult to predict the withdrawal of our forces from the southern part of Ukraine, because we have already experience that after withdrawal, provocations start and all the people are being shot and all that," he added.

Ukraine has been the subject of the Russian military operation since February 24, with Moscow saying that the operation is aimed at “demilitarizing” the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas.

Back in 2014, the regions of Donetsk and its neighbor Luhansk—which together form the Donbas—declared themselves independent republics, refusing to recognize Ukraine’s Western-backed government. The declaration of independence was ensued by a conflict between the region’s pro-Russian forces and the Ukrainian military.

Ordering the operation on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the mission was aimed at “defending people who for eight years were suffering persecution and genocide by the Kiev regime.”

Since that time, Russian forces have taken control of a big chunk of territory across Ukraine's southern flank above Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and is slowly pushing Ukrainian forces out of two east Ukrainian regions, which it has recognized as independent states. Together, the Donbas region and the southern areas account for more than fifth of Ukraine’s territory.

Elsewhere in his interview, the Russian ambassador to the Uk said sooner or later Ukraine would have to decide to strike a peace deal with Russia or "continue slipping down this hill" to ruin.

The Russian ambassador, meanwhile, predicted that escalation of the situation was possible if Ukraine’s Western allies kept up pumping arms to the country.

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"Is escalation possible? Of course," Kelin said, adding, "If the flow of [Western] weapons [into Ukraine] is organized in such a way that it endangers our strategic situation, our defense, we will have to take serious measures against that."

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NATO warns that the conflict in Ukraine could turn into an unrestrained battle between the alliance and Moscow.

Zelensky sacks several Ukrainian envoys

Also on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed several of the country’s ambassadors abroad, without offering a reason.

In a presidential decree, Zelensky announced the sacking of Ukraine's ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway, and Hungary. It was not immediately clear if the envoys would be assigned new positions.

Observers say the reason for the move might be the envoys’ failure to drum up enough support and military aid for Kiev in the face of Russia.

Kiev's relations with Germany, which is heavily reliant on Russian energy supplies and also Europe's biggest economy, are
particularly sensitive.

Kiev and Berlin are currently at odds over a German-made turbine undergoing maintenance in Canada. Germany wants Ottawa to return the turbine to Russian natural gas giant Gazprom to pump gas to Europe. Kiev has urged Canada to keep the turbine, saying shipping it to Russia would be a violation of sanctions imposed on Moscow.

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