Vladimir Putin has warned of “bloodshed” as he ordered Russian troops into two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, raising fears of a full-on invasion.
The Russian president ordered the army across the border to “maintain peace” after he recognised the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in a televised address to the nation.
In an ominous speech that lasted almost an hour, Mr Putin accused the Ukrainian government of “genocide” and said it was sure to seek nuclear weapons with the assistance of the West.
Afterwards he signed a decree that recognised the independence of the Russian-speaking separatist regions, which have been under effective control since Russia stoked a separatist war there in 2014.
In Mr Putin’s eyes, it could create a legal basis for the Russian army to move across the border into the Donbas region and engage in direct conflict with Ukrainian forces, dashing months of Western diplomatic efforts aimed at averting an invasion.
“They are planning a Blitzkrieg as it was before in 2014,” he said of the Ukrainian military in Donbas. “How long can this tragedy continue?
“We demand that those who seized power in Kyiv immediately stop hostilities, otherwise, the responsibility for the continuing bloodshed will rest entirely with the Ukrainian regime.”
The live television feed immediately cut to footage of him signing two decrees – one recognising the Donetsk People’s Republics, and the other recognising the independence of the Luhansk People’s Republic.
The leaders of those two separatist statelets were shown in the Kremlin putting their signatures on a friendship treaty with Russia signed by Mr Putin.
Mr Putin did not announce immediate military operations, but his tone and description of Ukraine as an imminent security threat left little hope that war can be avoided.
Mr Putin also deployed the Russian military to “maintain peace” in the Donbas region on Monday.
“Whereas before, Russia didn’t have a justification for overt military intervention even under its own laws, now it will,” said Samuel Charap, an analyst at the Rand Corporation.
On Monday, it was not clear if Mr Putin planned to recognise all the territory claimed by the separatists, or just that which they already de facto control. A more expansive vision could see Russia push past the line of contact with Ukrainian armed forces.
The announcement drew immediate condemnation from Western governments, which threatened to impose sanctions.
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, said the move was “plainly in breach of international law”, adding: “It’s a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine.
“It is a repudiation of the Minsk process and Minsk agreements, and I think it’s a very ill omen and a very dark sign.”
“The UK will do everything we can to stand by the people of Ukraine, with a very robust package of sanctions.”
The US plans sanctions against anyone who trades with the separatists in Dontesk and Luhansk, the White House said.
Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said on Monday that the US would also announce “additional measures related to today’s blatant violation of Russia’s international commitments”. However, it was not clear whether that would include the “devastating” package of sanctions Joe Biden has promised if Russia actually invades.
The EU has agreed a “limited” package of sanctions that will target those “responsible” for the recognition of the separatist regions, said Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister.
Some policymakers have argued that the most powerful sanctions should be held in reserve until Russian troops cross the border.
Ukraine immediately requested a meeting of the UN Security Council to address the threat of a Russian invasion, citing security assurances it received in return for giving up its Soviet-Era nuclear stockpile.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, called an emergency meeting of the country’s security council. He said on Twitter that he had spoken to Joe Biden, Mr Johnson and the leaders of France and Germany to discuss a response.
In France, Emmanuel Macron – who earlier in the day tried to avert the war by inviting Mr Putin to have a summit with Joe Biden to discuss intentional security – called an emergency national security meeting.
Jens Stoltenburg, the secretary general of Nato, said he “condemned” the recognition.
It came as Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s border were moving to tactical start lines in preparation for the start of offensive operations.
A Western security official said units on all of Russia’s suspected axes of invasion had gone from being “positioned” to “poised” to attack. “All the indications we see is for a large-scale invasion, using multiple axes with a series of objectives,” the official said.
Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, told NBC news that a Russian invasion of its neighbour would be an “extremely violent” operation, followed by a brutal occupation.
“It will be a war waged by Russia on the Ukrainian people to repress them, to crush them, to harm them,” the White House official said.
On Monday, it was reported that US officials have discussed plans with the Ukrainian government for Mr Zelensky to leave Kyiv in the event of a Russian invasion.
The president would retreat to Lviv, in western Ukraine and around 50 miles from the Polish border, two people familiar with the discussions told NBC News.
The US and UK have already relocated their embassies from the capital to Lviv and urged their citizens to leave the country.
Mr Putin’s ultimatum to Kyiv followed a rambling speech in which he claimed that eastern parts of Ukraine were “historical Russian lands”, and that the county’s independence was merely a product of “various mistakes of the Bolsheviks and the Communist party”.
“We call it Lenin’s Ukraine,” he said. “Would you like to have decommunisation? We are very happy with that. But do not stop half way through. We are happy to show you want true decommunisation means for Ukraine,” he said, in one of countless barely veiled threats.
“Ukraine has never had a consistent tradition of being a true nation, so they instead started following foreign models not rooted in their history.”
He went on to denounce Nato expansion and accused the West of trying to contain Russia, saying it would come up with an excuse to slap Russia with new sanctions. “They will do it just because we exist,” he said.
Mr Putin and his closest advisers laid the groundwork for the dramatic announcement in a televised session of Russia’s 12-member national security council.
He opened the meeting by saying the Ukrainian government had made it clear with its actions that it is not going to comply with the 2015 Minsk peace agreement.
He then asked for reports from the assembled officials, defence, foreign and interior minister and the heads of the security services, before he would react to coordinated appeals for recognition from the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics released earlier in the day.
Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, said the United States had failed to respond to Russian offers of a compromise.
Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister, presented a series of alarming security assessments, including the claim that Kyiv might seek to develop a nuclear weapon, to argue that Ukraine presents an immediate threat to Russian security.
He appeared to be referring to a remark by Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich security conference on Saturday,. He said Russia’s behaviour had voided the 1994 Budapest memorandum, in which Russia, the US and Britain guaranteed Ukraine’s “territorial integrity or political independence” in exchange for it surrendering its Soviet-era nuclear stockpile.
All 12 officials backed recognition when Mr Putin asked them whether they supported the idea. However two, including Sergey Naryshkin, the head of the SVR foreign intelligence service, suggested waiting to see if the threat produced a concession before going through with it.
Earlier in the day, Russia claimed to have destroyed two Ukrainian armoured vehicles and killed five “saboteurs” trying to cross the border in an area outside the Donbas warzone, in what analysts warned could be a pretext for launching a wider invasion of the country.
It also claimed that Ukrainian shelling had destroyed a Russian border checkpoint, which Ukraine denied.
The US embassy in Kyiv described the claims as “transparent, hackneyed plots to justify an invasion” that would be “laughable if they were not so destructive and dangerous.”
The Kremlin said Mr Putin telephoned Mr Macron, and Olaf Shulz, the chancellor of Germany, of his intention to sign a decree on recognition before he made his televised address.
The move means Russia is abandoning the 2015 Minsk II peace agreements that would have re-integrated the self-proclaimed Dontesk and Luhansk People’s Republics back into Ukraine.
Mr Putin and his top diplomats have demanded the United States and other Western governments force Ukraine to implement the deal.
