BREAKING: Putin says he'll recognize independence of Ukraine breakaway regions, escalating conflict with West
— Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that he will recognize the independence of two Russian-backed breakaway republics in the east of. The Biden administration warned last week that the move would violate international law and Ukraine's sovereignty, and would"necessitate a swift and firm response" from America and its allies.
"The goal of our meeting today is to listen to our colleagues and map out our next moves in this matter, meaning both the requests by the leaders of the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic to Russia asking to recognize their sovereignty," Putin opened the meeting by saying. Doing so"would further undermine Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week, and"constitute a gross violation of international law."Blinken said last week that if Putin were to formally recognize Luhansk and Donetsk, that act in itself would"necessitate a swift and firm response from the United States in full coordination with our Allies and partners.
On Thursday last week, Blinken laid out the steps the U.S. believed Russia would take if Putin decided to launch a full-scale attack on Ukraine. He told the United Nations Security Council on February 17 that Russia would first stage false-flag incidents"toThat first stage has been well underway since late last week, according to the U.S.
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