Putin recognizes the independence of pro-Russian separatist territories of Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin was preparing to recognize the independence of pro-Russian breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine on Monday, the Kremlin announced, a decision that deepens the crisis between the two countries at a time when the West fears a Russian invasion.

“A decree to this effect will be signed shortly.”, said the Russian presidency. According to the same source, Putin informed his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, and the German head of government, Olaf Scholz, mediators in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, of the decision, who, according to the Kremlin, “expressed their disappointment.”

The Russian president should announce his decision during a statement on television on Monday, Russian state media announced.

This decision concerns two pro-Russian territories in eastern Ukraine, a mining and industrial area bordering Russia: Donetsk and Lugansk.

The leaders of these two separatist territories, Denis Pushilin of the DNR (Donetsk People’s Republic) and Leonid Pasechnik, of the LNR (Lugansk People’s Republic) had asked the Russian president on Monday to recognize their independence and activate a “cooperation in terms of defending”.

This decision puts an end to the unstable peace process mediated by France and Germany, which provided for the return of the territories to the control of Kiev in exchange for extensive autonomy.

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky responded to these statements on Monday via Twitter announcing the imminent convening of the National Security and Defense Council.

Kiev also demanded an “immediate” meeting of the UN Security Council in the face of the threat of a Russian invasion.

The UN asked “all stakeholders to refrain from any unilateral decision or action that could undermine the territorial integrity of Ukraine”, said his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, on Monday.

“We underline our call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, for the utmost restraint on all sides to avoid any actions and statements that further aggravate tensions”, also expressed Dujarric, who stressed that all disputes must “be treated with diplomacy”.

The head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, affirmed at the end of a meeting of foreign ministers of the Union in Brussels that he will put “the sanctions package on the table of European ministers” for Putin’s statement.

EU sanctions must be decided unanimously by EU leaders at a summit that will be convened in an extraordinary way. As Borrell added, “unanimity on the Ukraine issue is guaranteed”.

-Lavrov-Blinken summit on Thursday-

Russia had denounced on Monday the elimination of two groups of Ukrainian saboteurs who had penetrated its territory, and accused Ukraine of having bombed a border post, statements that Kiev denies.

“Two groups of saboteurs from the Ukrainian army went to the Russian border (…) During the clashes both groups of saboteurs were destroyed. One of the Ukrainian military was captured”, declared the head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, during the meeting of the Security Council.

Western countries fear that intensifying fighting in recent days in eastern Ukraine with pro-Russian separatists will provide a pretext for Moscow, which has deployed 150,000 troops to the Ukrainian border, to invade.

The French presidency had announced a summit between Putin and Biden on Sunday but the Kremlin on Monday described the idea as “premature”.

“There is an understanding about the fact of having to continue the dialogue at the level of ministers (of Foreign Affairs). Talking about concrete plans for organizing summits is premature”, settled this Monday before the press the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitri Peskov.

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he will meet his US counterpart Antony Blinken on Thursday.

For its part, the White House considers that the invasion of Ukraine is imminent, and accuses Russia of seeking to “crush” the Ukrainian people.

A Russian military operation would be “particularly brutal” and “would cost the lives of Ukrainians and Russians, whether civilians or soldiers,” said US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

Moscow denies having plans to invade Ukraine, but demands guarantees that this former Soviet republic will never join NATO and an end to the expansion of that alliance to its borders. Their demands have so far been rejected by the West.

-“It’s war, the real one”-

The separatists for their part reported the death of three civilians in the last 24 hours, as well as the explosion of an ammunition depot in the Novoazovsk region, accusing it of “Ukrainian saboteurs”.

This information could not be independently verified.

The authorities of the two pro-Russian “republics” ordered the mobilization of men in a state of combat and the evacuation of civilians to Russia. Moscow said on Monday that 61,000 people had been evacuated from the area.

“It is war, the real one,” said Tatiana Nikulina, 64, who is among those evacuated from the Donetsk region to the Russian city of Taganrog.

The pro-Russian separatists who rose up against Kiev are sustaining a conflict in the east of the country that has left more than 14,000 dead since 2014, after Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian Crimea.