Russian Army's Capture of Avdeyevka as Symbolic as 'Verdun or Stalingrad', French Politician Says

13:56, 20 February 2024

Muhammad Nooh Osman

Writer/Editor

After the liberation of Avdeyevka, a symbolic city for Moscow, it's clear that Kiev is "practically beaten". To stabilize the situation, Crimea and Donbass should remain in Russia, and the rest of Ukraine should become a "buffer state," Francois Asselineau, the leader of the French UPR party, told Sputnik Africa.

Sputnik

The liberation of the town of Avdeyevka has a strong symbolic significance, while at the same time it reflects the exhaustion of Kiev's troops on the front line, said Francois Asselineau, the leader of the French political party Union Populaire Républicaine (UPR).

After the liberation of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut), this latest Ukrainian setback shows that Kiev is finding it increasingly difficult to hold its positions, according to Asselineau.

"This was made possible by the determination of the Russian troops [...]. It is also due to the weakening of ammunition and weapons supplies on the Ukrainian side. We know that behind Ukraine are the NATO countries, in particular the United States of America, which are arming Ukraine. Zelensky, Vladimir Zelensky, spends his time touring European countries and the United States, always asking for more money and ammunition," analyzed the politician.

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Many specialists "believe that Ukraine is practically defeated" and that the insistence of Western countries is only delaying the inevitable, Francois Asselineau stressed.

The talks will happen sooner or later, the politician continued. The opportunity arose in the summer of 2022, but the interference of the former British Prime Minister Johnson dashed hopes of negotiations, he recalled. Nevertheless, a peace treaty will have to regulate the future neutrality status of Ukraine, as well as the question of Donbass and Crimea, the French politician raised.

"The stabilization of this affair will come when it is agreed that Crimea and Donbass will return to Russia, and the rest of Ukraine will remain independent, becoming a kind of buffer state, not committed to joining either the European Union or NATO. This is the principle of a geopolitical glacis to preserve Russia's security," Asselineau concluded.