As it happened: US to impose sanctions on breakaway Ukraine regions following Russian recognition

• ​​​​​​11:58 pm Paris time

France's Macron believes Putin broke his commitments on Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron considers that Russian President Vladimir Putin has broken his commitments, and that his decision to escalate the situation in Ukraine needs to be sanctioned, the Elysee palace said on Monday.

It added that Macron wants the European Union to take proportionate and targeted sanctions against Russia for violating international treaties.

“President Putin delivered a historico-political speech that was accusatory (…) and mixed various considerations of a rigid and paranoid nature," a French presidential official told reporters, referring to Putin's comments on Ukraine earlier Monday.

Macron went as far as possible on the diplomatic path, they added, but still wants Friday’s planned meeting of Russian and French foreign ministers in Paris to go ahead. 

• 11:15 pm Paris time

Scholz, Macron, Biden agree Putin's rebel move 'will not go unanswered'

The leaders of France, Germany and the United States on Monday condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to recognise rebel-held areas in east Ukraine as independent, calling it a "clear breach" of the Minsk peace agreements.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden agreed that "this step will not go unanswered", the chancellery said in a statement published following their conversation.

The three Western allies also vowed not to let up in their commitment to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

Praising the restraint shown by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the latest developments, they added that they will "do everything in their powers to prevent a further escalation of the situation".

• 10:38 pm Paris time

Putin orders defence ministry to send Russian peacekeepers into Ukraine’s rebel-held regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his defence ministry to despatch Russian peacekeepers to eastern Ukraine's two breakaway regions, according to a decree published early on Tuesday, after he said Moscow would recognise their independence.

Putin earlier signed decrees recognising the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent nations, defying Western warnings that such a step would be illegal and kill off long-running peace negotiations.

• 10:33 pm Paris time

UN chief Guterres slams Russia’s recognition of breakaway Ukraine regions 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed Russia's move to recognise two eastern Ukrainian separatist regions as independent Monday as a "violation" of Kyiv's sovereignty.

"The Secretary-General considers the decision of the Russian Federation to be a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and inconsistent with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations," he said in a statement.

• 10:28 pm Paris time

Dutch PM Rutte says EU countries have agreed on ‘limited package’ of Russia sanctions

European Union countries have agreed to impose a limited set of sanctions against Russia following its move to recognise the independence of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Monday.

"We have agreed to impose a limited package of sanctions, targeting those who are responsible for this decision," Rutte said in an interview on Dutch television, adding that decisions on details were expected to follow on Tuesday.

• 10:09 pm Paris time

Macron condemns Russia’s recognition of breakaway Ukraine regions, Élysée says

French President Emmanuel Macron condemns Russia’s decision to recognise as independent the self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, and calls for the adoption of targeted European sanctions in response, the Élysée Palace said in a statement Monday.

Macron also said Russia’s decision is a unilateral violation of its international commitments and an attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty, and called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

• 9:54 pm Paris time

Baltic states call on EU to impose Russia sanctions after recognition of rebel-held Ukraine regions

The European Union must impose sanctions on Russia immediately after it recognised two Ukrainian breakaway regions as independent, the governments of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said after Russia's announcement.

"The EU must impose sanctions immediately," Latvian Foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics wrote on Twitter.

In a joint statement, Rinkevics and Latvia's president and prime minister called on the international community "to take the strongest possible measures to stop Russia’s aggression and offer assistance to Ukraine".

Separately, Estonia's president called on the EU to impose sanctions for what he called the "gross and unjustifiable trampling on international law".

• 9:34 pm Paris time

Biden to prohibit US investment, trade with breakaway Ukraine regions

US President Joe Biden will issue an executive order soon that will prohibit "new investment, trade, and financing by US persons to, from, or in" the two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised as independent nations on Monday, the White House said.

The order 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 were forthcoming, adding these were separate from sanctions that the United States and its allies have been preparing if Russia invades Ukraine.

• 9:22 pm Paris time

NATO chief ‘condemns’ Putin move to recognise self-declared republics in eastern Ukraine

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Monday condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's recognition of rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine, saying it violated international agreements Moscow had signed on to.

"I condemn Russia's decision to extend recognition to the self-proclaimed 'Donetsk People's Republic' and 'Luhansk People's Republic'. This further undermines Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, erodes efforts towards a resolution of the conflict, and violates the Minsk Agreements, to which Russia is a party," Stoltenberg said in a statement.

• 9 :12 pm Paris time

Zelensky says he and Biden spoke about Putin’s recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he had discussed Russia's recognition of his country's two Kremlin-backed separatist regions with US President Joe Biden.

Zelensky tweeted that he "discussed the events of the last hours" with the US leader and then convened a national security council meeting focused on responding to Russian President Vladimir Putin's unilateral recognition of the independence of part of eastern Ukraine.

• 9:05 pm Paris time

EU will respond with sanctions to Russia’s recognition of Ukraine separatist regions

European Union Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc will react with sanctions against Russia’s move to recognise the independence of the self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

• 9pm Paris time

UK’s Johnson says recognition of Ukraine rebels ‘a flagrant violation’ of sovereignty

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday slammed Russia's recognition of separatist republics as "a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and integrity of the Ukraine".

Russian President Vladimir Putin's recognition of the independence of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine is "a repudiation of the Minsk process and the Minsk agreements", Johnson said, referring to faltering 2015 peace accords.

"The UK will continue to do everything we can to stand by the people of Ukraine with a very robust package of sanctions," Johnson told journalists at Downing Street.

• 8:45pm Paris time

Putin says Russia will recognise self-declared republics in east Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would recognise the rebel-held, self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine in an address Monday.

• 8:25pm Paris time

Putin says US and NATO have turned Ukraine into a theatre of war

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the US and NATO have turned Ukraine into a theatre of war during an address Monday.

Putin said Ukrainian law provides for joint exercises with foreign troops, which he called ‘a pretext to increase NATO in Ukraine’, and said Ukrainian airspace is ‘open to the Americans’.

• 7:53pm Paris time

Putin says modern Ukraine a creation of Communist Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that modern Ukraine was a creation of by Communist Russia during an address on Monday, after the Kremlin said Putin would sign an order “in the near future” recognising two separatist republics in eastern Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic.

• 7pm Paris time 

EU ‘ready to react’ if Moscow recognises separatist Ukraine regions 

The European Union is "ready to react" if Russian President Vladimir Putin recognises Ukraine's separatist-held territories as independent, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday.  

"We call upon President Putin to respect international law and the Minsk agreements and expect him not to recognise the independence of Lugansk and Donetsk oblasts," Borrell said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.  

"We are ready to react with a strong, united front in case he should decide to do so."

• 6:49 pm Paris time 

Germany’s Scholz tells Putin that recognising Ukraine rebel regions a breach of Minsk agreements

 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday warned that Moscow would be unilaterally breaching the 2015 Minsk peace accords if it were to recognise the independence of eastern Ukraine's self-declared, rebel-held republics.

In a call between Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the German leader underlined that "such a step would be a gross contradiction of the Minsk agreement for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in east Ukraine and a unilateral breach of these deals from the Russian side". 

Following the conversation, Scholz is currently consulting with his "closest partners" including France's President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, the chancellery said in a statement. 

• 5:58pm Paris time 

Ukraine say civilian dead in shelling of government-held village in east

A Ukrainian civilian died on Monday in a shelling attack on a government-held village, officials said, with the incident coming as fears were rising of an imminent Russian invasion. 

Local officials said the civilian was killed in an attack on Novoluganske, a settlement 35 kilometres north of the eastern rebel stronghold Donetsk. 

• 5:44 pm Paris time

Ukraine requests urgent meeting of UN Security Council

Ukraine on Monday requested an urgent 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 nuclear arsenal in 1994. 

The agreement, co-signed by Russia, the US and Britain, assured Ukraine that its "territorial integrity or political independence" would be respected in return for its decision to move all its nuclear weapons to Russia. 

"On President (Volodymyr) Zelensky's initiative I officially requested UNSC member states to immediately hold consultations under article 6 of the Budapest memorandum," Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted. 

• 4:17 pm Paris time 

Lavrov to meet French FM Friday for 'preparatory consultations' on proposed Putin-Biden summit 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris Friday to lay groundwork for a mooted summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden, France’s foreign ministry said Monday. 

Lavrov agreed to a meeting "to hold preparatory consultations for the summit agreed in principle" in a Sunday phone call between Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron, the ministry said in a statement. 

• 3:57 pm Paris time 

Lavrov says will meet Blinken in Geneva 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that he would meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday in Geneva. 

During a meeting of the Kremlin's security council, Lavrov said he had spoken with Blinken about Russian security demands and that a further meeting "is scheduled for February 24". 

• ​3:51 pm Paris time 

Putin: ‘No prospects’ for Minsk peace accords 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that he no longer felt that the 2015 Minsk agreements with France, Germany and Kyiv would be able to resolve Ukraine's separatist conflict. 

"We understand that there are no prospects" for the implementation of the 2015 Minsk peace accords, agreed in the capital of Belarus to end fighting between Ukraine's army and pro-Moscow rebels in the east of the country, Putin told his security council. 

• 3:17 pm Paris time

Russia to consider request to recognise Ukraine separatists 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday told his security council it was necessary to consider an appeal from the leaders of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine for Russia to recognise them as independent. 

The leaders of two rebel-held regions in eastern Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic, on Monday asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognise them as independent in a coordinated appeal. 

"I ask you to recognise the sovereignty and independence of the Luhansk People's Republic," separatist Leonid Pasechnik said in a video aired on Russian state television. Denis Pushilin, the rebel head of the Donetsk People's Republic, made a similar appeal. 

• 2:44 pm Paris time

Ukraine denies Russia’s claim its forces killed Ukrainian ‘saboteurs’ 

Ukraine on Monday firmly denied Russian claims that Russian forces had killed five Ukrainian "saboteurs" who allegedly crossed the border to stage an attack, heightening fears of an all-out war. 

"Not a single one of our soldiers has crossed the border with the Russian Federation, and not a single one has been killed today," Anton Gerashchenko, an official at Ukraine's interior ministry, told reporters. 

The Russian military said earlier Monday that it had killed five "saboteurs" who crossed into Russia from Ukraine, the latest claim fuelling tensions on the two countries’ border.  

"As a result of clashes, five people who violated the Russian border from a group of saboteurs were killed," the military said in a statement, adding the incident occurred near the village of Mityakinskaya in the Rostov region at 06:00am (0300 GMT).  

• 12:22 pm Paris time

Russia's FSB says shell from Ukraine destroyed border guard post

Russia's FSB security service said on Monday a shell fired from Ukrainian territory had completely destroyed a border guard post in Russia's Rostov region but caused no casualties.

Ukraine denied responsibility for the incident, which took place at a moment of extreme tension between the two countries as Russia continues to deny statements from the United States and its allies that it could invade Ukraine at any time.

"At 9:50 am (0650 GMT) an unidentified projectile fired from Ukrainian territory completely destroyed a service point of the FSB border guards in the Rostov region, located about 150 metres away from the Russia-Ukraine border," the FSB said in a statement. "There are no casualties. Sappers are working there."

• 11:52 am Paris time

Air France cancels Paris-Kyiv flights on Tuesday

Air France has decided to cancel its Tuesday flights between Paris and Kyiv, the French airline said, as a "precautionary measure" on the back of rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

"In view of the local situation and as a precautionary measure, flights AF1752 and AF1753 to and from Kiev (KBP) on Tuesday 22 February 2022 are cancelled," the company said in an e-mailed statement to Reuters, confirming an earlier report on French TV station BFM TV.

"Air France is constantly monitoring the geopolitical situation in the territories it serves," it added.

Ukraine's infrastructure minister said on Monday that about 10 airlines had adjusted their scheduled flights to Ukraine amid tensions with Russia but said its air corridors were still open and flying to the East European country remained safe.

• 9:41 am Paris time

No 'concrete plans' for a summit meeting, Kremlin says

The Kremlin said Monday it was too early to organise a summit between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden, after Paris announced the possibility of a meeting to calm tensions over Ukraine.

"It's premature to talk about any specific plans for organising any kind of summits," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that no "concrete plans" had been put in place for a meeting.

• 08:51 am Paris time

Russian troops will return to bases when 'objective need' arises, says Belarus

Russian armed forces will return to their permanent bases when an "objective need" to do so arises, the Belarusian defence ministry said on Monday.

Western powers are on edge over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine, and Belarus on Sunday that joint military drills with Russia taking place in Belarus would be extended.

The ministry said on Monday the troop withdrawal would depend to a large extent on a pullback of NATO forces from near the borders of Belarus and Russia.

'The volatility in the Donbass could be the spark that could tip this situation into conflict'

02:45

• 08:51 am Paris time

Stop playing with people's lives in eastern Ukraine, Germany tells Russia

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused Russia on Monday of playing an "irresponsible" game with the civilian population of eastern Ukraine and urged it to return to the negotiating table.

Sporadic shelling across the line dividing Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east has intensified since Thursday.

"I urgently call on the Russian government, on the Russian president: Don't play with human lives," Baerbock told reporters after arriving for a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels.

"What we have seen over the last 72 hours in terms of attacks, violent disputes is really concerning," she said. "The responsibility lies with the Russian government which is why I call urgently on the Russian government: Come back to the negotiating table. It is in your hands."

• 06:54 am Paris time

Russia has lists of Ukrainians 'to be killed or sent to camps', US warns UN

The United States has warned the United Nations it has information that Russia has lists of Ukrainians "to be killed or sent to camps" in the event of an invasion, according to a letter sent to the UN rights chief and obtained by AFP Sunday.

The letter, which came as Washington warned of an imminent invasion by Russian troops massed near the Ukrainian border, says the United States is "deeply concerned" and warns of a potential "human rights catastrophe".

The United States has "credible information that indicates Russian forces are creating lists of identified Ukrainians to be killed or sent to camps following a military occupation", the letter says.

"We also have credible information that Russian forces will likely use lethal measures to disperse peaceful protests or otherwise counter peaceful exercises of perceived resistance from civilian populations," says the message, addressed to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)