Separatist leader says Russia’s help may be needed for talks with Ukraine

A Russian-backed separatist leader said he might ask Russia for help in talks with Ukraine amid the ongoing tensions between the two countries, Reuters reported. 

In a news conference on Wednesday, Denis Pushilin, the leader of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, said he favors dialogue with Ukrainian officials in the first instance, saying its role in the ongoing conflict has become critical with separatists accelerating a mobilization of their forces. 

“We will win. With people like this, we will win. With such a country, with big Russia, which we respect and value,” Pushilin said. “We have no right to lose, or even to doubt in our victory.”

When asked if they will expand their territory, Pushilin responded that the separatist region is not at the stage yet. 

This comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Monday that Russia has recognized the independence of two separatist movements in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Reuters reported. 

“We are not yet at that stage, we’re at the stage when the enemy’s forces are on the line of contact and can move onto the offensive at any moment,” Pushilin said. 

Ukrainian officials have strongly denied separatists’ accusations of attempting to regain control of the territory they lost to Russia, also denying rumors of a series of Russian and separatist reports about alleged attacks as well. 

A member of Russia’s ruling party, Andrey Turchak, said that no military force in the world can change the legal result of Russia recognizing the two separatist countries, Reuters noted. 

“For us, the slogan ‘Russia doesn’t abandon its own people’ — these are not empty words,” Turchak said. “I am glad we have all united around this idea, the Russian idea, the restoration and preservation of the Russian world.”