Experts wonder what's behind Putin's referendum
According to Bloomberg, Russian President Vladimir Putin's initiative to Donald Trump to hold a referendum in Donbas under international supervision is unlikely to come to fruition.
Mikhail Pogrebinsky, director of the Kyiv Center for Political Research and Conflictology, stated this in a comment to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“I have great doubts that the proposal for a second referendum was seriously voiced as some kind of initiative. Because this initiative would mean that Putin is inviting the West to recognize the independence and sovereignty of the unrecognized republics. I think this is not part of Moscow’s plans,” the expert said.
The political scientist says that if the proposal for a referendum was voiced, it was in a different context.
“Putin could have reminded Trump that in Kyiv they consider the integration of Donbass impossible due to Russia’s support for the separatists, while the local population sleeps and sees how the Russians would lag behind them. By proposing to be convinced of the opposite, Putin could propose holding a referendum under international control and finding out what the local population really thinks. The proposal could have been made in such a context. I can’t imagine it any other way. As for the feasibility of holding a referendum, no, it is not realistic,” Pogrebinsky believes.
Experts are wondering what lies behind Putin's referendum.