After weeks of threats, Putin has sent soldiers and tanks into eastern Ukraine. Shaun Walker and Patrick Wintour explain what the new stage of the crisis means for Ukraine and its allies
After an angry, rambling, theatrical security meeting on Monday, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, announced that Russia had recognised the independence of two Russian-controlled territories in east Ukraine: the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. Furthermore, he said, the Kremlin would be sending troops on a “peacekeeping mission” into the region.Shaun Walker has been reporting from Luhansk, in the eastern part of Ukraine.
He tells Hannah Moore about the incidents Putin used to justify sending in the military. Patrick Wintour, who has been watching the diplomatic response from the UK, France, Germany and the US, explains what steps Ukraine’s allies are prepared to take to dissuade Putin from waging all-out war on Ukraine. Continue reading…