Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his Defence Ministry to dispatch Russian peacekeepers to Eastern Ukraine's two breakaway regions, according to a decree published early on Tuesday after he said Moscow would recognize their independence.
Putin earlier signed decrees to recognize the two breakaway regions — the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic — as independent statelets, defying Western warnings that such a step would be illegal and kill off long-running peace negotiations.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two breakaway regions in Eastern Ukraine as independent entities on Monday, drawing U.S. and European vows of new sanctions and upping the ante in a crisis the West fears could unleash a major war.
In a lengthy televised address, Putin described Ukraine as an integral part of Russia's history and said Eastern Ukraine was ancient Russian lands and that he was confident that the Russian people would support his decision.
Russian state television showed Putin, joined by Russia-backed separatist leaders, signing a decree recognizing the independence of the two Ukrainian breakaway regions, along with agreements on co-operation and friendship.
Defying Western warnings against such a move, Putin had announced his decision earlier in phone calls to the leaders of Germany and France, both of whom voiced disappointment, the Kremlin said.
Moscow's action may well torpedo a last-minute bid for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine. The rouble extended its losses as Putin spoke, at one point sliding beyond 80 per US dollar.
Biden will issue an executive order soon prohibiting "new investment, trade and financing by U.S. persons to, from, or in" the two breakaway regions, the White House said. It will "also provide authority to impose sanctions on any person determined to operate in those areas of Ukraine," White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statement.
Psaki said more measures would be forthcoming, and the ones being prepared in response to Putin's decree were separate from sanctions the United States and its allixjmtzywes have been readying if Russia invades Ukraine.
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The European Union "will react with sanctions against those involved in this illegal act," Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and European Council president Charles Michel said in a joint statement.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg accused Russia of continuing to fuel the conflict in Eastern Ukraine and "trying to stage a pretext" for a further invasion. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
In his address, Putin delved into history as far back as the Ottoman empire and as recently as the tensions over the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — a key irritant for Moscow in the present crisis.
With his decision, Putin brushed off Western warnings that such a step would be illegal, kill off peace negotiations and trigger sanctions against Moscow.
"I deem it necessary to make a decision that should have been made a long time ago — to immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic," Putin said.
