Russia-Ukraine live updates: Putin orders ‘peacekeeping’ troops to separatist regions of Ukraine

World leaders have roundly condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for breaching international law and violating Ukraine’s sovereignty following his announcement Monday to recognize the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk, two Russian-backed separatist areas in Ukraine’s Donbas region.

The breakaway regions are at the heart of the crisis between Ukraine and Russia; Western leaders have feared Russia would recognize them as independent of Ukraine to create a pretext for invasion.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement the Biden administration will respond swiftly, having anticipated this move from Russia.

“President Biden will soon issue an Executive Order that will prohibit new investment, trade, and financing by U.S. persons to, from, or in the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine,” Psaki said. She noted the measures are separate from and would be in addition to the “swift and severe economic measures” the United States has already coordinated with its allies.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission — the executive branch of the European Union — called Putin’s recognition of the breakaway territories a “blatant violation of international law” and other agreements, and said swift sanctions against Russia will follow.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson signaled Britain’s willingness to hold off on imposing sanctions for now, but said Putin’s move was a repudiation of the Minsk agreements.

“I think it’s a very ill omen and a very dark sign,” Johnson said Monday.

Latvia’s foreign ministry in a tweet blasted Putin’s move as a “continuation of the attack on [Ukrainian] independence, sovereignty & territorial integrity” and said it would deliver Javelin antitank missiles to Ukraine on Tuesday.

The sentiments were echoed by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who called sanctions against Russia “the only language Putin understands.”

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg pointed the finger at Moscow for escalating the conflict and urged Russia to “choose diplomacy.”

Earlier Monday, the United Nations announced Secretary General António Guterres was canceling his mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo and returning to New York in light of the “deteriorating” situation in Ukraine.

Putin’s announcement came shortly after Russia’s Security Council on Monday called for him to recognize the breakaway territories, which since 2014 have self-declared as the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic.

Neither territory has been recognized by the United States or other world powers; the Ukrainian government considers the republics to be terrorist organizations.

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday gave a long televised speech to his nation with his own take on Ukraine’s history before delivering the bombshell of his recognition of two Moscow-backed separatist regions of eastern Ukraine — creating a potential pretext to send in forces.

The leaders of the two regions asked Putin on Monday for recognition and for military assistance, raising the prospect that they could invite Russian forces in, allowing Moscow the pretense of a “legal” military intervention. He signed a declaration recognizing their independence later in the day.

Putin has accused Ukraine of “genocide” against the regions, and Russian officials claim Kyiv has mounted intensifying military attacks there, claims rejected as disinformation by Ukrainian officials on Monday. Putin has produced no evidence for his accusation.

The move could give him a pretext to invade Ukraine, particularly after Moscow’s claims that Kyiv forces were attacking the areas.

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

Recognition of the territories breaches the 2015 Minsk peace agreement that was developed to restore the separatist regions to Ukraine’s control but was never implemented.

Putin called French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday evening to tell them of his decision after an extraordinary meeting of his hawkish Security Council where officials one by one stood up to urge him to recognize the regions. The Kremlin said Macron and Scholz expressed their disappointment but agreed to maintain contacts, the Kremlin said.

MOSCOW — In his lengthy television address on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin excoriated Ukraine’s leaders and called the country “a colony with puppets at its helm” where Russian speakers were oppressed.

“Ukraine has never had its own authentic statehood. There has never been a sustainable statehood in Ukraine,” he said. He warned that Ukraine could develop its own nuclear weapons, calling this a “real threat,” adding that the West might help Kyiv develop them.

He also attacked NATO’s expansion, saying Western countries wanted to hold Russia back, and had never taken Moscow into account.

Russia backed separatists in two regions of eastern Ukraine after annexing Crimea in 2014, following Ukraine’s Maidan revolution that ousted a pro-Moscow leader.

The conflict over the regions has claimed almost 14,000 lives and continues to this day. A 2014 Minsk peace agreement was developed to restore the separatist regions to Ukraine’s control but was never implemented.

Moscow has insisted that the regions get broad autonomy, but Kyiv has argued that implementing the deal on these terms would give Moscow a lever to control Ukraine’s foreign policy and halt its tilt toward the West.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that recognizing the separatist regions would be “a gross violation of international law” that would further violate Ukraine’s territorial integrity. He said such a move would “necessitate a swift and firm response from the United States in full coordination with our Allies and partners.”

Moscow has been preparing the ground for years — issuing Russian passports to 800,000 Ukrainians in the two separatist regions since 2019 so Russia could send in forces to “defend” them as its own citizens.

Russia’s Security Council on 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.

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

Putin is likely to make a decision later Monday.

All the members of Putin’s Security Council supported recognizing two regions, which call themselves the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic.

As Ukraine has turned toward the West, Moscow has long been trying to drag it back into Russian orbit, preparing the ground for years, including by issuing Russian passports to 800,000 Ukrainians in the two regions. That gives Russia a pretext to send in forces to “defend” them.

If Russia recognizes the two regions as independent, the separatist leaders could appeal to Moscow to send in forces. The leaders already called for Russian military assistance Monday.

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

The Security Council includes Putin’s hawkish military, security and intelligence chiefs, who have emerged as his major source of advice, according to Russian political analysts, as well as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and the heads of Russia’s upper and lower houses of parliament.

The Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic are a major flash point in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and the scene of fighting between Ukrainian forces and separatists that has claimed 14,000 lives since 2014.

The decision to recognize them would beach the 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.

As Russian military forces increase their presence on Ukraine’s eastern border and intensify fears of an invasion, two cities in the country’s eastern Donbas region have emerged as key locations to understanding the crisis.

Donetsk and Luhansk are controlled by Russian-backed separatists and have some of the highest percentages of ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking residents in Ukraine.

The Donbas region has grown closer to Russia since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, and the two key cities have proclaimed themselves as the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic. Neither area is recognized as independent by the United States or other world powers, and both are considered terrorist organizations by the Ukrainian government.

Putin’s security council on Monday urged him to recognize them as independent.

With more than an estimated 190,000 Russian troops amassed at Ukraine’s border, the United States and other Western governments fear rebel forces in Donetsk and Luhansk working at the behest of Putin will stage “false flag” attacks on their own people and blame them on Ukrainian military forces to sow confusion and create a pretext for war.

While the Russian government has denied this, Putin has a lengthy history of accusations against him for using such operations.

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USPENKA, Russia — Convoys of Russian military equipment could be seen advancing into the forests toward Ukraine in Russia’s southern region of Rostov on Monday, as close as a dozen miles from the border with the Ukraine’s separatist-controlled Donetsk region.

Washington Post journalists saw a convoy of at least 20 Gvozdika and Msta-S self-propelled howitzers, artillery-fire-control systems, and all-purpose towing tractors crossing a muddy field about 18 miles away from the border with the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, an area Putin’s security council has urged him to recognize as independent of Ukraine. Such recognition could be pretext to send in Russian forces.

A few miles farther from the border, The Post team spotted a tow truck transporting a tank with a dirt-caked caterpillar chain.

Trucks with fuel and cargo were stationed on the side roads along a highway leading to the Uspenka checkpoint on the border.

Fresh tank tracks were visible in fields near the border, which locals said had not been spotted before Monday in the area.

According to the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), an independent group of researchers tracking Russian movements near Ukraine, similar Russian military movements were observed in other parts of western Russia near Ukraine on Monday.

“The nature of the movement of Russian equipment near the borders of Ukraine has changed dramatically,” the CIT said on Telegram, noting that tanks and infantry-fighting vehicles were moving across terrain and along roads, not merely being transported on rail cars.

“We believe that the transfer of forces from other regions has come to an end, and apparently they are heading towards positions for a possible offensive,” the CIT said.

Uspenka border crossing now serves as an evacuation point for residents leaving the Moscow-backed Donetsk region.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday called on the U.N. Security Council to meet immediately to discuss Ukraine’s security.

In a Twitter post, he said he was acting on behalf of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He asked that Security Council members confer over “urgent actions aimed at de-escalation, as well as practical steps to guarantee the security of Ukraine” under Article 6 of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances.

The agreement was signed by Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom in December 1994. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal, but agreed to relinquish it in return for assurances of its sovereignty and the sanctity of its borders.

Among the guarantees given to Kyiv, the three countries promised that they would “refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defence.”

The memorandum’s sixth and final article said the three would “consult in the event a situation arises that raises a question concerning these commitments.” However, the agreement did not contain any mechanism to force the signatories to comply.

This month, the UNSC’s rotating leader — which has some control over the body’s agenda — is Russia.