Russian President Putin has recognized the independence of separatist regions in east Ukraine amid fears Moscow could launch an invasion. Putin urged lawmakers to sign treaties with Ukraine's rebel regions, enabling Moscow's military support for them.
The Kremlin said Putin told the leaders of Germany and France that he would sign a “relevant decree” soon in response to the separatist leaders’ pleas to recognize their independence. It didn’t elaborate on what the decree would say.
Even as the diplomatic efforts inched forward, potential flashpoints multiplied. Sustained shelling continued Monday in Ukraine’s east. Unusually, Russia said it had fended off an “incursion” from Ukraine — which Ukrainian officials denied. And Russia decided to prolong military drills in Belarus, which could offer a staging ground for an attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
Earlier Monday, leaders of the regions released televised statements pleading with Putin to recognize them and sign treaties that would allow for military aid to protect them from what they described as an ongoing Ukrainian military offensive. Russia’s lower house of parliament made the same plea last week.
The language from Moscow and Washington was more cautious, but neither side denied a meeting is under discussion. Macron’s office said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would lay the groundwork for the potential summit when they meet Thursday. Lavrov was set to meet France’s foreign minister Friday.shelling has spiked along the tense line of contact
Some residents of the main rebel-held city of Donetsk described sporadic shelling by Ukrainian forces, but they added that it wasn’t on the same scale as earlier in the conflict.
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