WEB DESK
Russian Parliament has backed President Vladimir Putin to use troops abroad after Moscow recognized two separatist regions in Ukraine as independent.
Russia has recognized and ordered troops into the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The US says an ‘invasion’ of Ukraine is underway
Vladimir Putin says ‘the best solution’ is for Kyiv to drop its bid to join NATO
EU ministers have unanimously agreed on a new sanctions package
Germany says approval of Nord Stream 2 cannot go forward
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his Defense Ministry to send Russian troops into eastern Ukraine’s two breakaway regions, according to a decree published early on Tuesday, after he said Moscow would recognize their independence.
The Kremlin said Putin ordered the Russian forces to “maintain peace” in eastern Ukraine.
The decree did not specify when any such deployment would take place.
However, the move raises tensions, as Western leaders have warned Moscow could use a skirmish in the restive region as an excuse for a larger Russian attack.
Pentagon: Putin ‘can still avoid’ war
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Russian President Putin “can still avoid a full-blown, tragic war of choice.”
Austin was speaking at the Pentagon with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Austin told Kuleba that Washington will continue to work closely with Kyiv and allies “in trying to find a way to avoid further conflict.”
“My message is simple: [a] strong Ukraine is the best deterrence of Russia.”
Russia to evacuate its diplomats from Ukraine
Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced that it has decided to evacuate its diplomatic staff from Ukraine.
“To protect the lives and safety [of diplomats], the Russian leadership decided to evacuate the personnel of Russian foreign missions in Ukraine, which will be implemented in the near future,” the ministry said in a statement.
EU agrees new sanctions package
The European Union foreign ministers have agreed on sanctions targeting individuals and entities that “undermine Ukrainian integreity,” the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
Borrell said the package “will hurt Russia, and it will hurt a lot.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters after a Paris meeting of the EU’s top diplomats that they “unanimously agreed” to the sanctions package.
Earlier on Tuesday, the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, outlined the possible sanctions on:
• Those involved in the decision to recognize Donetsk and Luhansk as “independent”
• Banks financing Russian military and other operations in eastern Ukraine
• The Russian state’s access to the EU’s capital and financial markets and services
• Trade from Luhansk and Donetsk to and from the EU
Michel and von der Leyen concluded by emphasizing the EU’s solidarity with Ukraine in what is a dire hour for European security, or what the statement by the two European presidents terms “the illegal actions of Russia.”
Ukrainian deputy PM: West must impose ‘severe’ sanctions
Olga Stefanyshyna, Ukrainian deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, told DW that the Ukrainian military will make sure that “no inch of Ukrainian land is occupied.”
“We’re clear in our position that it’s our territory. It has always been our territory and it will be our territory, regardless [of] any decision that Putin would take,” Stefanyshyna said.
“But what is essential is knowing that Ukraine will fight for its territorial integrity. Now EU, NATO, US and particularly Great Britain … should impose severe individual sanctions to those who legitimized yesterday’s decision to deter Russia from further military invasion.”
Asked about the Minsk agreements, Stefanyshyna said that Putin “has shown a total negligence to any peaceful efforts, which has been taken for the last eight years.”
“So now is the day where we should think that maybe dialogue and discussions is not the right instrument to deter,” she added.
Will impose sanctions on Russia far beyond previous measures. Sanctions cut Russia off from Western financing. We will impose sanctions on Russia’s elites: US President Joe Biden
Ukraine is not just a neighbouring country for us. It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space. These are our comrades, those dearest to us – not only colleagues, friends, but also relatives, people bound by blood, by family ties” : President Putin