Russia announced Tuesday that his recognition of independence for areas in eastern Ukraine extends over the territory currently held by Ukrainian forces – raising the stakes further amid fears in the West that Moscow full- full-fledged invasion of Ukraine is imminent.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia has recognized the independence of the rebel regions “in borders that existed when they proclaimed “their independence in 2014.
The lowest house of Russia’s Duma parliament voted to approve Putin’s friendship accords with the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR). the vote is finished in standing applause from deputies.
The agreements, published from below house of parliamentcreate a “legal basis” for the presence of the russian army in the republics. In the framework of of the agreements, both parties have agreed to share military bases and protect their borders together.
Lawmakers approved both deals unanimously – by 400 votes for the deal with Donetsk Republic and 399 for the Lugansk agreement after one the deputy said that he had not pressed the button of vote in time.
“It’s the only one way protect peoplestop the fratricidal war, prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and bring peace,” said Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. in published comments on parliament is website.
Upper Russia house of parliament, the Council of the Federation, must vote on offers later on Tuesday.
Ukrainian forces then regained control of A large part of the two regions during nearly eightyear conflict that has killed over 14,000 people.
the announcement comes a day after Russia said it would recognize independence – but didn’t say exactly what it saw as the borders of these areas to be. the move was widely seen in the West as an omen of a Russian invasion. Russia has amassed around 150,000 troops near Ukraine in in recent weeks, and Western leaders have warned that Moscow plans to attack.
Western leaders have denounced move and says they are preparing to announce sanctions.
Late Monday, convoys of armored vehicles were seen rolling through separatist-controlled territories. It wasn’t right away clear if they were Russian.
Russian officials have yet to acknowledge the troop deployments to the rebel east, but Vladislav Brig, a member of the separatist local council in Donetsk, told reporters that Russian troops had already moved surprising up posts in the region is north and west.
Since the conflict erupted weeks after Russia’s annexation in 2014 of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Moscow of support the separatists with troops and weapons, charges he denied, saying the Russians who fought in the east were volunteers. by Putin move Monday formalizes Russia’s grip on regions and gives him carte blanche to deploy his forces there.
And Russia set The scene for a fast move to secure son hold on the regions on Tuesday with new legislation that would allow allow the deployment of troops there. The invoices, which are set quickly navigate through the two houses of the russian parliament provide military links, including possible deployment of Russian military pedestals in breakaway regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought to project calm, tell the country in an address overnight: “We are not afraid of anyone Or anything. We should not anyone nothing. And we won’t give anything for anyone.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is expected to be in Washington on Tuesday to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the State Department said.
“The Kremlin has recognized its own aggression against Ukraine,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said. on Twitter, describing Moscow move as a “new Berlin Wall” and urging the West to quickly slap Russia with punishments.
The White House reacted quickly by issuing an executive order prohibiting investment and trade in breakaway regions and additional measures – probably sanctions – were to be announced Tuesday. These sanctions are independent of what Washington has prepared in the event of a russian invasionaccording to a senior administration official who informed journalists on the condition of anonymity.
Other Western allies also said they planned to announce sanctions.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that the UK also introduce “immediate” economic sanctions against Russia and warned that “Putin is bent on a full-climb invasion of Ukraine… that would be absolutely catastrophic.”
Johnson said Putin had “completely torn up international law” and the British sanctions would not target just the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk but “Russian economic interests hard as we can.”
Foreign European Union policy leader, Josep Borrell, said that “Russian troops have entered in Donbass,” adding that “I wouldn’t say that (it’s) a full-fledged country invasion, but Russian troops are on Ukrainian soil” and the EU would decide on penalties later on Tuesday.
Mariusz Błaszczak, Polish Minister of Defense also noted in a radio interview on Tuesday, he could confirm that Russian forces entered the territories, describing it as a violation of the borders of Ukraine and international law.
Wang Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson on Tuesday said China would “continue to stay in commitment with all parties,” continues to lead clear to commit to back Russia despite the close ties between Moscow and Beijing.
While Ukraine and the West said that Russian recognition of rebel regions break a 2015 peace accord, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia disputed this, noting that Moscow is not a party to the Minsk agreement and arguing that it could still be implemented if Ukraine so wished.
The 2015 agreement negotiated by France and Germany and signed in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, required Ukraine offers itself a wide range ofauto-rule to rebel regions in a diplomatic coup for Russia after a series of Ukrainian military defeats. Numerous in Ukraine felt the deal was a betrayal of national interests and a blow to the integrity of the country, and its implementation has stalled.
Putin announced the move in an hour-long televised speech, accusing the United States and its allies for the current crisis and describing Ukraine’s attempt to join NATO as existential challenge in Russia.
“Ukrainian membership in NATO represents a menace direct to the security of Russia,” he said.
Russia says he wants western guarantees that NATO won’t allow Ukraine and others former Soviet countries for join as members – and Putin said on Monday that a mere moratorium on Ukraine’s membership would not be enough. Moscow has also asked the alliance to stop the deployment of weapons in Ukraine and to roll back its forces from Eastern Europe – demands flatly rejected by the West.
Putin warned on Monday that Western rejection of Moscow’s demands give Russia the right to take other steps to protect his safety.
Swipe through more one century of historyPutin portrayed present-day Ukraine as a modern construct used by the West to contain Russia despite the inextricable ties of neighbors.
In one warning to Ukraine, the Russian leader accused him of unfairly inheriting the historic land of Russia granted to him by the communist rulers of the Soviet Union and mocked its efforts to get rid of the communist past in a so-called “decommunization” campaign.
“We’re ready to show you what the real decommunization would mean for Ukraine”, Putin added grimly in an apparent signal of his desire to raise new territorial claims.
With approximately 150,000 massed Russian troops on three sides of Ukraine, the United States warned that Moscow had already decided to invade. Yet US President Joe Biden and Putin tentatively agreed to a meeting brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron in a last- giving up the effort to avoid war.
by Macron office said Biden and Putin had “agreed in principle of such a summit”, which would be followed by a broader meeting which would include other “relevant actors to discuss security and strategic stability in Europe.”
If Russia moves inthe meeting will be offbut the prospect of a face-for-face the summit raised hopes in diplomacy to prevent a conflict that could devastate Ukraine and cause enormous economic damage throughout Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian energy.
Tensions continued to rise high in eastern Ukraine, with more shelling reported along tension line of contact between the rebels and the Ukrainian forces. Ukraine military said two Ukrainians soldiers were killed and 12 others were injured by shelling over the last 24 hours. He rejected rebel claims of shelling residential areas and insisted that Ukrainian forces were not returning fire.
Russia announced Tuesday that his recognition of independence for areas in eastern Ukraine extends over the territory currently held by Ukrainian forces – raising the stakes further amid fears in the West that Moscow full- full-fledged invasion of Ukraine is imminent.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia has recognized the independence of the rebel regions “in borders that existed when they proclaimed “their independence in 2014.
The lowest house of Russia’s Duma parliament voted to approve Putin’s friendship accords with the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR). the vote is finished in standing applause from deputies.
The agreements, published from below house of parliamentcreate a “legal basis” for the presence of the russian army in the republics. In the framework of of the agreements, both parties have agreed to share military bases and protect their borders together.
Lawmakers approved both deals unanimously – by 400 votes for the deal with Donetsk Republic and 399 for the Lugansk agreement after one the deputy said that he had not pressed the button of vote in time.
“It’s the only one way protect peoplestop the fratricidal war, prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and bring peace,” said Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. in published comments on parliament is website.
Upper Russia house of parliament, the Council of the Federation, must vote on offers later on Tuesday.
Ukrainian forces then regained control of A large part of the two regions during nearly eightyear conflict that has killed over 14,000 people.
the announcement comes a day after Russia said it would recognize independence – but didn’t say exactly what it saw as the borders of these areas to be. the move was widely seen in the West as an omen of a Russian invasion. Russia has amassed around 150,000 troops near Ukraine in in recent weeks, and Western leaders have warned that Moscow plans to attack.
Western leaders have denounced move and says they are preparing to announce sanctions.
Late Monday, convoys of armored vehicles were seen rolling through separatist-controlled territories. It wasn’t right away clear if they were Russian.
Russian officials have yet to acknowledge the troop deployments to the rebel east, but Vladislav Brig, a member of the separatist local council in Donetsk, told reporters that Russian troops had already moved surprising up posts in the region is north and west.
Since the conflict erupted weeks after Russia’s annexation in 2014 of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Moscow of support the separatists with troops and weapons, charges he denied, saying the Russians who fought in the east were volunteers. by Putin move Monday formalizes Russia’s grip on regions and gives him carte blanche to deploy his forces there.
And Russia set The scene for a fast move to secure son hold on the regions on Tuesday with new legislation that would allow allow the deployment of troops there. The invoices, which are set quickly navigate through the two houses of the russian parliament provide military links, including possible deployment of Russian military pedestals in breakaway regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought to project calm, tell the country in an address overnight: “We are not afraid of anyone Or anything. We should not anyone nothing. And we won’t give anything for anyone.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is expected to be in Washington on Tuesday to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the State Department said.
“The Kremlin has recognized its own aggression against Ukraine,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said. on Twitter, describing Moscow move as a “new Berlin Wall” and urging the West to quickly slap Russia with punishments.
The White House reacted quickly by issuing an executive order prohibiting investment and trade in breakaway regions and additional measures – probably sanctions – were to be announced Tuesday. These sanctions are independent of what Washington has prepared in the event of a russian invasionaccording to a senior administration official who informed journalists on the condition of anonymity.
Other Western allies also said they planned to announce sanctions.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that the UK also introduce “immediate” economic sanctions against Russia and warned that “Putin is bent on a full-climb invasion of Ukraine… that would be absolutely catastrophic.”
Johnson said Putin had “completely torn up international law” and the British sanctions would not target just the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk but “Russian economic interests hard as we can.”
Foreign European Union policy leader, Josep Borrell, said that “Russian troops have entered in Donbass,” adding that “I wouldn’t say that (it’s) a full-fledged country invasion, but Russian troops are on Ukrainian soil” and the EU would decide on penalties later on Tuesday.
Mariusz Błaszczak, Polish Minister of Defense also noted in a radio interview on Tuesday, he could confirm that Russian forces entered the territories, describing it as a violation of the borders of Ukraine and international law.
Wang Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson on Tuesday said China would “continue to stay in commitment with all parties,” continues to lead clear to commit to back Russia despite the close ties between Moscow and Beijing.
While Ukraine and the West said that Russian recognition of rebel regions break a 2015 peace accord, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia disputed this, noting that Moscow is not a party to the Minsk agreement and arguing that it could still be implemented if Ukraine so wished.
The 2015 agreement negotiated by France and Germany and signed in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, required Ukraine offers itself a wide range ofauto-rule to rebel regions in a diplomatic coup for Russia after a series of Ukrainian military defeats. Numerous in Ukraine felt the deal was a betrayal of national interests and a blow to the integrity of the country, and its implementation has stalled.
Putin announced the move in an hour-long televised speech, accusing the United States and its allies for the current crisis and describing Ukraine’s attempt to join NATO as existential challenge in Russia.
“Ukrainian membership in NATO represents a menace direct to the security of Russia,” he said.
Russia says he wants western guarantees that NATO won’t allow Ukraine and others former Soviet countries for join as members – and Putin said on Monday that a mere moratorium on Ukraine’s membership would not be enough. Moscow has also asked the alliance to stop the deployment of weapons in Ukraine and to roll back its forces from Eastern Europe – demands flatly rejected by the West.
Putin warned on Monday that Western rejection of Moscow’s demands give Russia the right to take other steps to protect his safety.
Swipe through more one century of historyPutin portrayed present-day Ukraine as a modern construct used by the West to contain Russia despite the inextricable ties of neighbors.
In one warning to Ukraine, the Russian leader accused him of unfairly inheriting the historic land of Russia granted to him by the communist rulers of the Soviet Union and mocked its efforts to get rid of the communist past in a so-called “decommunization” campaign.
“We’re ready to show you what the real decommunization would mean for Ukraine”, Putin added grimly in an apparent signal of his desire to raise new territorial claims.
With approximately 150,000 massed Russian troops on three sides of Ukraine, the United States warned that Moscow had already decided to invade. Yet US President Joe Biden and Putin tentatively agreed to a meeting brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron in a last- giving up the effort to avoid war.
by Macron office said Biden and Putin had “agreed in principle of such a summit”, which would be followed by a broader meeting which would include other “relevant actors to discuss security and strategic stability in Europe.”
If Russia moves inthe meeting will be offbut the prospect of a face-for-face the summit raised hopes in diplomacy to prevent a conflict that could devastate Ukraine and cause enormous economic damage throughout Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian energy.
Tensions continued to rise high in eastern Ukraine, with more shelling reported along tension line of contact between the rebels and the Ukrainian forces. Ukraine military said two Ukrainians soldiers were killed and 12 others were injured by shelling over the last 24 hours. He rejected rebel claims of shelling residential areas and insisted that Ukrainian forces were not returning fire.