Thread by @DAlperovitch

Putin is holding a meeting of his Security Council today. #WatchThisSpace

https://twitter.com/kremlinpool_ria/status/1495678557300924418

The meeting is being held right now. Lavrov is giving a bleak report on state of diplomatic efforts

Lavrov: European unity at #MSC2022 proved to us once again that it only makes sense for us to talk to the Americans

Putin: A moratorium on Ukraine’s membership that has allegedly been offered to him is not a concession to Russia but simply a reflection of reality that Ukraine is not ready to join NATO

Putin: Macron didn’t offer any specifics in his late night call last night (lasted till 2am) when he proposed a Biden-Putin-Macron summit

Deputy PM Kosak: Minsk talks have gone nowhere since 2015. Explicit rejection of progress of Normandy talks

Putin: Will Kyiv honor Minsk agreements?
PM Kosak: They never will

FSB Director Bortnikov: Russian forces destroyed Ukrainian forces that tried to infiltrate the border and took one Ukrainian POW

Shoigu: 90% of Donetsk has no water. 75% of Luhansk has no gas

Shoigu lists the following disposition of Ukrainian forces at Line of Control - 59k Ukrainian forces, 345 tanks, 2160 BMPs, 820 artillery pieces, 160 MLRS

Shoigu claims Zelensky has said that he wants to return Ukraine to once again become a nuclear state (Ed: It never was. Never had operational control over the weapons)

Putin: We need to answer the question from Duma regarding recognition of DNR and LN

Medvedev: Ukraine doesn’t want the Donbas

Medvedev: Zelensky has no intention of implementing Minsk agreements (Ed: he is not wrong)

Medvedev referring to decision he made in 2008 to recognize Ossetia and Abkhazia which “saved hundreds of thousands of lives”

Medvedev: The conflict today is much larger today than in 2008. But back then we didn’t know what the Western reaction will be. Today we know all the sanctions that will be used against us. But we also have experience to confront them

Medvedev: It will be hard to live under sanctions but eventually the pressure on us will dissipate once the West gets tired and will ask us themselves to return to talks. That’s how things have happened in the past

Medvedev talks about “our people”, Russian citizens in the Donbas. Refers that US launches a rescue operation to save even a single American hostage. Says here we are dealing with tens of thousands Russian citizens

Medvedev: A very large part of Russian population will support recognition of DNR and LNR

Putin: I have not talked to any one of you in advance and I am hearing all of your reports for the first time (Ed: hard to believe)

Duma Chairman Volodin: We ask you (Putin) to recognize DNR and LNR

Chairwoman of Federation Council Matviyenko: Puppet regime in Kyiv cannot decide anything. The west can tell Kyiv to resolve the conflict and they would immediate do it (Ed: they wouldn’t)

Matviyenko: We have to recognize DNR and LNR. The time has come

Matviyenko: What bad things has Russia done to Ukraine? (Ed: the list may not fit in 280 chars)

Matviyenko: We supplied cheap gas. We didn’t interfere in Ukrainian domestic affairs unlike the US. For 30 years, we have not raised the “illegal transfer” of Crimea to Ukraine (Ed: it wasn’t illegal)

Matviyenko: We had no morale right to allow NATO fleet to be based in Crimea

Secretary of Security Council Patrushev: US has declared Russia and China as enemies in its strategic documents (Ed: it hasn’t)

Patrushev: We don’t need talks with Biden. We need to solve our goals. Their goal is to destroy Russia

Patrushev: We need to support Duma’s recommendation to recognize DNR and LNR to defend people of Donbas

Patrushev: Donbas is only one of the conflicts organized by the US

Patrushev: Give 2-3 day ultimatum to the US to end the conflict and then we can have talks with Biden. But since they won’t accept it, the only answer is recognition

PM Mishulin: We have already been working to counter sanctions that will be placed on Russia after recognition

PM Mishulin: Need to recognize DNR and LNR if no progress is made with the West

SVR head Naryshkin: Kyiv has no intention to implement Minsk

Naryshkin: War propaganda from the West is designed to provoke Kyiv to solve Donbas with military means

Naryshkin: We must recognize DNR and LNR. Can give our Western partners one last chance to make Kyiv accept Minsk

Incredible Naryshkin-Putin exchange

After prodding from Putin, SVR head Naryshkin says: I support recognition of DNR and LNR as part of Russia
Putin: Wait a second. We aren’t talking about that. We are talking about independence
Naryshkin: Then I support independence

Minister of Internal Affairs Kolokoltsev: Compares Ukraine and Minsk agreements with Nazi Germany signing surrender documents and then not implementing for 7 years. (Ed: Is this acknowledgment that Minsk was a surrender document?)

Kolokoltsev: Need to recognize Donbas but all of it - including Mariopol (Ed: Mariopol is not held by Donbas separatists)

Lavrov: They are attacking Slavic people and everything Russian. We need to send a signal to the whole Russian world

Lavrov: Offering the West 2-3 day ultimatum is a matter of taste but won’t change anything

Shoigu: Javelins are not a defensive weapon. Ukraine has more of them now than some NATO countries. We’ve been left no choice. We must recognize

Head of Rosgvardiya Zolotov: We don’t have a border with Ukraine. It’s a border with US. Because Ukraine is their vassal state

Putin: I have heard from all of you and will make a decision today

That was quite a show. “West Wing” Russian-style