Uh, yea that’s what we’ve been saying since fucking 2014. And it was YOUR side that made and continues to make the region a dangerous place. Also, just choosing Donetsk because Russia cares about liberating the region literally is just to draw out the war even longer than necessary. I understand why Libs and conservatives all jumped on the Ukraine Train, but as Zelenskyy draws this out and attacked Zaporizhzhiya, and bans opposition parties and draws Nazis into the official military forces, when will they at least say “No War” as opposed to actively Cheering on Ukraine?
Oh, yeah. Azov responded by sending more people to the frontline and threatening to send even more. Other politicians actively called for his death. An entire social media campaign got started up accusing him of capitulation to Russia.
With all that going on in public, I’m sure there were private talks that did even more to convince him to stop even making small attempts at peace.