Bortnik: By recognizing the DPR and LPR, Russia will open up new military and economic opportunities for them
Recognition of the DPR and LPR by Russia will give them the opportunity to officially receive Russian weapons and export their products to all countries.
Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics, announced this on the air of the Apostrophe TV channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“There is a certain logic there, it is very clear. Why is Russia doing this? First of all, because they need to construct an administrative entity on the territory of certain districts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. This is in addition to the fact that they have already fully accepted their economy into their composition, recognize their goods and services, and recognize their citizens. But they do not have a subject there for negotiations, a subject for official interactions.
What interactions does Russia plan with this entity? Firstly, this is a defense agreement, joint defense or joint attack (because they claim the entire territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions). Imagine that Russian troops are out of reach of Ukrainian troops, they don’t even enter this territory and just bombard us for a week or two, a month. They are launching missile and artillery strikes,” he says.
The second is the official location of military bases.
“The main thing is that today Russia nominally cannot transfer its weapons to them. She donates all sorts of Soviet junk and certain types of weapons. But after recognition, Russia can nominally transfer to them, for example, missile systems. They will say: for Donetsk coal, which is supplied by the LDPR, we sold 5 squadrons of SU-35s and Iskanders. These are not us in Ukraine, these are not our Iskanders, these are Iskanders sold to the LPR and DPR.
Also, don't forget about the economy. Today, experts who work on the economy of Donetsk and Lugansk say that they have already become about 80% self-sufficient due to the increase in the price of coal, the primary raw material that is mined there. If recognized, this economy will have access to exports.
These companies are recognized within the Russian economy, but have very limited export opportunities. They will be able to export anywhere Russia wants. The export of their goods and services opens a window for more efficient use of economic resources,” said Ruslan Bortnik.