the russian president Vladimir Putin He stated that he will decide on Monday whether Russia recognizes the independence of the two separatist territories in eastern Ukraine, a decision that would put an end to the peace process in this conflict.
“I have listened to your views, the decision will be made today,” Putin told members of his Security Council at the end of a meeting broadcast on Russian television.
The Russian president indicated that his country is studying the request made by the two pro-Russian separatist territories in eastern Ukraine to recognize their independence.
“The purpose of our meeting today is to listen to our colleagues and determine our next steps in this direction,” Putin told a Russian security council meeting.
The leaders of the two territories pro-Russian separatists from eastern Ukraine asked the Russian president to recognize their independence and activate “defense cooperation”.
The orders, broadcast on Russian television, were launched by the leaders of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and of LuganskDenis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik respectively.
The West believes that Russia instigated the conflict in eastern Ukraine and sponsors the separatists, since the war broke out shortly after Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
Moscow, on its side, accuses the Ukrainian authorities of torpedoing the 2015 peace agreements between Kiev and the separatists.
Putin also said on Monday that Russia faces a “serious” and “very big” threat in Ukraine, amid tensions with Western countries that accuse Moscow of preparing to invade its neighbor.
“The use of Ukraine as an instrument of confrontation with our country poses a serious and very big threat to us,” Putin said, stating that Moscow’s priority “is not confrontation, but security.”