Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning on recognising two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent entities.
A Kremlin statement said Putin had told the French and German leaders he intends to sign a decree on the Donetsk and Luhansk areas.
The move has been named ‘a big moment in this crisis’ as Western leaders fear such a move could be used as a justification for Russia to invade Ukraine.
The EU has vowed to react strongly if the Kremlin decides to follow through on its announcement.
In his television address to the Russian nation, which has been going on for more than 20 minutes, Putin reviewed the two countries’ linked history, arguing that his nation was ‘robbed’ by the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Referring to Ukraine’s connection with the West, he went on to accuse its neighbour of being a ‘US colony’ with a ‘puppet regime’.
Putin insisted that Ukraine’s admission to NATO would be a direct threat to Russia’s security and argued that recent events had been a cover for the swift deployment of Western troops to the country.
Earlier in his address, the leader also accused the government of stealing Russia’s gas in the past, or of using energy to blackmail Russia.
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