Russia-Ukraine live updates: Putin considers recognizing Ukrainian areas as independent

Russia’s Security Council Monday called on President Vladimir Putin to recognize the independence of two Russian-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, a move that could give him a pretext to invade Ukraine, particularly after Moscow’s claims that Kyiv forces were attacking the areas.

Putin is likely to make a decision later Monday.

Ukraine officials Monday denied the attacks, saying the claims were Russian disinformation. Western officials have warned repeatedly that Moscow is manufacturing a reason to invade.

All the members of Putin’s hawkish Security Council supported recognizing two regions that call themselves the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic. Some 800,000 Russians live in the two areas.

Putin called the extraordinary Security Council meeting after accusing Ukraine of committing “genocide” in the regions last week, without producing evidence.

The decision breaches a 2015 Minsk peace agreement brokered by France and Germany that was designed to return the two regions to Kyiv’s control.

One by one, Security Council officials, urged Putin to recognize the regions, arguing that Kyiv was trying to “freeze” the eastern Ukraine conflict, preventing a resolution and leaving Russia to cover the regions’ costs.

Putin said it was clear that Ukraine had no intention of implementing the Minsk agreement, which requires Kyiv to pass laws giving the regions autonomy.

Kyiv officials say the laws would allow Moscow to use the separatist regions as leverage over Ukraine’s foreign policy and to veto its pro-Western stance.

Putin said Russia had done everything to resolve the situation peacefully but that Ukraine authorities had “carried out military punitive operations in these territories” in the past and was doing so again.

Deputy security council chief Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow had to protect the Russians living in the regions, after Moscow began handing out Russian passports to Ukrainians living there in recent years.

As Putin asked his Security Council to examine whether to recognize the independence of two Moscow-backed breakaway regions, life near Luhansk — one of the areas in Ukraine controlled by separatists — continued as normal, Washington Post photographer Salwan Georges witnessed Sunday.

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin called a meeting of his Security Council on Monday to “determine our next steps” related to the Ukraine crisis.

Putin told the meeting the West had offered no concessions to Russia in its key demands for a bar on Ukraine or other Eastern European countries joining NATO.

He said the Russian Security Council would examine whether to recognize the independence of two Moscow-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, a move that would signal an end to a seven-year peace deal known as the Minsk agreement.

Russia has accused Ukraine of intensifying attacks on the regions in recent days, without producing evidence, and Putin on Friday accused Kyiv of committing “genocide” there. Ukraine officials said Monday that Russia was manufacturing disinformation that fighting was going on.

Putin said it was clear that Ukraine had no intention of implementing the terms of the 2015 Minsk agreement that was designed to return the regions to Ukrainian control.

Kyiv has sought amendments to the deal, arguing that implementing it on Russian terms would give Moscow a lever to influence Ukraine’s foreign policy and Western links, undermining the nation’s sovereignty.

Putin said that Russia had initially done everything it could to resolve the situation peacefully but that Ukrainian authorities had “carried out military punitive operations in these territories twice. All these years, the people who live there have been practically abused.”

Earlier, the leaders of both regions had requested Moscow’s recognition.

PARIS — Air France on Monday became the latest major airline to temporarily suspend flights to the Ukrainian capital over concerns that a Russian invasion of the country may be imminent, joining other European carriers that have already taken similar measures.

In a statement, Air France said the “precautionary measure” would for now only concern flights to and from Kyiv on Tuesday. The airline did not say whether it expects flights to resume later this week.

“Air France will regularly reassess the situation and reminds that the safety and security of its flights, its customers and its crews, is an absolute imperative,” the French flag carrier said in a statement.

Germany’s Lufthansa Group and Dutch carrier KLM had previously announced a suspension of their flights to Kyiv.

In total, about 10 airlines have so far changed flight plans, said Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, according to Reuters news agency.

Kubrakov said “the state is working to replace canceled flights,” Reuters reported.

Flights to and from Ukraine have been under close scrutiny for years. Airlines have avoided flying over eastern Ukraine since a surface-to-air missile downed a passenger jet in the area in 2014, killing 298 people. A Dutch-led investigative team later found that the missile system was brought in from Russia and fired from an area held by pro-Russian separatists.

CHICAGO — The screen inside the Ukrainian National Museum flashed with images of gunfire, helmeted young protesters and bloodied bodies. In one massive photo propped against a wall, a lone Ukrainian protester waves the country’s blue and yellow flag as fire burn around him.

The scenes shown to the packed museum crowd in Chicago late Saturday were not from Ukraine’s eastern border, where a growing mass of Russian military forces has sparked fears of a full-on invasion, but from 2014, when more than 100 antigovernment protesters were killed in the Euromaidan protests in Kyiv.

Hailing from a country where past conflict is often prologue, Ukrainian Americans were commemorating one conflict while being mired in another.

“I’m concerned, and honestly I’m scared,” said Halyna Parasiuk, 47, an archivist at the museum with two adult sons in Ukraine. “When President Biden said it could be war, I was like, ‘Oh my God. Can you imagine how many people could be victims? Millions and millions.’ ”

In recent days, the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States has been holding vigils, praying and protesting in hopes of persuading Congress, Biden and other Western leaders to aid Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia. The mounting tensions fall around the same time each year that Ukrainians commemorate those killed in the 2014 protests.

KYIV — Ukrainian officials on Monday denied Russian claims they mounted major attacks on two Moscow-backed separatist enclaves in eastern Ukraine, calling this a disinformation effort to create a “picture of war.”

Western officials have warned that Russia is spreading disinformation to manufacture a pretext to invade Ukraine, after Moscow officials from Putin down accused Ukraine of “genocide” and shelling of civilians. No evidence of Russia’s claims has been produced.

Ukrainian Minister of Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko, speaking at a briefing of journalists, said reports of explosions were false and the mass evacuation ordered Friday by the pro-Moscow separatist leaders was manufactured.

He said Ukraine unmasked 10 disinformation “fakes” over the weekend. Russia was manufacturing lies about Ukraine shelling the Moscow-backed breakaway enclaves in eastern Ukraine to create a false “picture of war,” he said.

“I emphasize once again: The Ukrainian army is not planning any offensive actions. Nowhere,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told the briefing. “We stand for the return of our people and territories through political and diplomatic means.”

Russian officials claimed on Monday that a Ukrainian shell hit a Russian border post, causing no casualties, following earlier claims Saturday that two shells from Ukraine exploded in Russia’s southern Rostov region.

Moscow-back leaders of the enclaves earlier claimed that Ukraine shelling intensified overnight, without producing evidence.

Some of the videos about Ukraine attacks aired by Russian state television have been swiftly debunked by analysts, with video metadata indicating these were filmed earlier than claimed.

Ukraine’s foreign minister on Monday urged the European Union to move ahead on sanctions against Russia now, rather than waiting for the Kremlin to make additional moves.

“We expect decisions,” Dmytro Kuleba told reporters ahead of a meeting with his E.U. counterparts in Brussels. “We believe there are good and legitimate reasons to impose at least some of the sanctions now to demonstrate that the European Union is not only talking the talk about sanctions, but walking the walk.”

The remark comes two days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed the West for inaction, accusing leaders of “appeasement” and warning that sanctions issued after further Russian aggression would be too late.

European leaders have warned for weeks that they are ready to hit Russia with hefty sanctions, but details of their plans remain scarce. That’s led some to push publicly for swifter, more decisive action. On Sunday, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Twitter that Russia’s move to keep troops in Belarus beyond scheduled military exercises represents “a clear preparation to attack Ukraine towards Kyiv” and a “creeping annexation of Belarus.” This is a “game-changer” for NATO and for countries bordering Belarus, he tweeted. “NATO reinforcements and EU sanctions are in order.”

MOSCOW — The Belarusian Defense Ministry said Monday that Russian troops would remain in the country until NATO withdrew forces near its borders in neighboring countries, raising the prospect that they could stay indefinitely.

The move reinforces Moscow’s security demands to Washington and NATO that the alliance withdraw forces and equipment from former Soviet and Warsaw Pact countries.

Belarus neighbors NATO members Poland, Latvia and Lithuania and, to the south, non-NATO member Ukraine.

Belarusian Deputy Defense Minister Viktor Gulevich told a briefing of military attachés that NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe starting in 1997 was “aggressive and unreasonable.”

“It does not ensure stability in the Eastern European region but on the contrary increases the likelihood of armed conflict,” he said. “There is an escalation of tension. And not from the territory of Belarus.”

He said Belarus “has the right to demand the withdrawal of the groups of troops created by the United States and individual NATO member countries from the borders of the Republic of Belarus.”

The Belarusian opposition has called for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops, saying Belarus is “losing its sovereignty” by hosting Russian forces indefinitely.

On Sunday, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin announced that Russian forces would stay after the end of massive joint military drills — despite Belarusian officials’ earlier pledges that they would leave.