Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent on Monday and ordered the Russian army to launch what Moscow called a peacekeeping operation into the area, upping the ante in a crisis the West fears could unleash a major war.
Mr Putin told Russia's defence ministry to deploy troops into the two regions to "keep the peace" in a decree issued shortly after he announced recognition for Russia-backed separatists there, drawing United States and European condemnation and vows of new sanctions.
It was not immediately clear whether the Russian military action was the start of an invasion of Ukraine that the US and its allies have warned about for weeks. There was no word on the size of the force Mr Putin was dispatching, when they would cross the border and exactly what their mission would be.
In a lengthy televised address, Mr Putin, looking visibly angry, described Ukraine as an integral part of Russia's history and said eastern Ukraine was ancient Russian lands and that he was confident the Russian people would support his decision.
Russian state television showed Mr Putin, joined by Russia-backed separatist leaders, signing a decree recognising the independence of the two Ukrainian breakaway regions along with agreements on cooperation and friendship.
Ukrainian civilian volunteers and reservists of the Kyiv Territorial Defense unit conduct combat training in an abandoned asphalt factory. Source: Justin Yau/Sipa USA/AAP
Defying Western warnings against such a move, Mr Putin had announced his decision in phone calls to the leaders of Germany and France earlier, both of whom voiced disappointment, the Kremlin said.
It comes as the US will reportedly relocate its embassy in Ukraine to Poland amid a warning from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson that a Russian invasion could happen "in the coming hours".
"The embassy had previously relocated from Kyiv to the western city of Lviv. Now they are shifting to Poland," a Bloomberg reporter wrote on Twitter.
Mr Johnson told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call that Russia could attack within hours or days and Britain would explore sending further defensive support to Ukraine and announce sanctions on Russia.
"Outlining his grave concern at recent developments in the region, the Prime Minister told President Zelenskyy that he believed an invasion was a real possibility in the coming hours and days," Mr Johnson's office said.
"He told President Zelenskyy that the UK had already drawn up sanctions to target those complicit in the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity, and that those measures would come into force tomorrow. The Prime Minister also said he would explore sending further defensive support to Ukraine, at the request of the Ukrainian Government."
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden will issue an executive order soon prohibiting "new investment, trade, and financing by US persons to, from, or in" the two breakaway regions, the White House said. It 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.
Ms Psaki said measures being rolled out in response to Mr Putin's decree were separate from sanctions the US and its allies have been readying if Russia invades Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the executive order "is designed to prevent Russia from profiting off of this blatant violation of international law".
Earlier, Mr Putin presided over a long and carefully stage-managed meeting of his powerful security council, listening to senior officials say it was time for Russia to recognise the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic as independent.
"I have heard your opinions. The decision will be taken today," he said after the meeting, which aired on state television for more than 90 minutes.
The recognition will effectively put an end to an already shaky peace plan in the separatist conflict, which has rumbled on since 2014, after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine, and has left more than 14,000 dead.
The move has sparked a United Nations Security Council meeting, which will be held at 9pm EST on Monday (1pm AEDT on Tuesday), a Russian diplomat said, following a request by the US, the UK and France.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said European Union countries have agreed to impose a limited set of sanctions "targeting those who are responsible" for Russia's recognition of the rebel regions.
British foreign minister Liz Truss said in a Twitter post that on Tuesday the government will announce new sanctions on Russia in response to Mr Putin's decision.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg accused Russia of continuing to fuel the conflict in eastern Ukraine and "trying to stage a pretext" for a further invasion. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
These warnings followed an earlier denouncement by other European leaders of Mr Putin's decision to recognise the independence of Ukraine's separatist regions and warned the bloc will react with sanctions.
"The recognition of the two separatist territories in Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the Minsk agreements," EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel each tweeted.
"The EU and its partners will react with unity, firmness and with determination in solidarity with Ukraine," they said.
In a joint statement, Ms von der Leyen and Mr Michel said: "The Union will react with sanctions against those involved in this illegal act."
Ukrainian leader President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had convened his own National Security and Defence Council after Putin spoke, and also held calls with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The sudden and decisive move by Moscow overshadowed last-ditch diplomatic attempts to ease weeks of tensions over fears Russia has been planning an all-out invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.
European leaders have been urging Mr Putin to hold a summit with his United States counterpart Joe Biden, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Mr Putin in the security council meeting that he would meet his US counterpart on Thursday in Geneva.
'Very big threat' to Russia
Mr Putin made clear there was no room for further talks on the separatists, telling the security council there were "no prospects" for the 2015 Minsk peace accords aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict.
He made clear the stakes were bigger than ex-Soviet Ukraine, whose efforts to join NATO and the European Union have deeply angered Moscow.
"The use of Ukraine as an instrument of confrontation with our country poses a serious, very big threat to us," Mr Putin said.
The dramatic meeting, with Mr Putin sitting alone at a desk as his government, military and security chiefs took turns addressing him from a podium, came after weeks of tensions between Moscow and the West over Ukraine.
Amphibious armored personnel carriers take part in joint military drills held by Belarusian and Russian troops at the Obuz-Lesnovsky training ground. Source: AAP, SIPA USA
Western leaders are warning that Russia is planning to invade its pro-Western neighbour after massing more than 150,000 troops on its borders, a claim Moscow has repeatedly denied.
The tensions have spiked in recent days after an outbreak of heavy shellfire on Ukraine's eastern frontline with the separatists and a series of reported incidents on the border with Russia.
In one of the most potentially dangerous, Moscow claimed, to furious Kyiv denials, that its forces had intercepted and killed five Ukrainian saboteurs who infiltrated Russian territory, and accused Ukraine of shelling a border post.
'Crush them, harm them'
Kyiv, concerned that Russia is building a narrative to justify an invasion, immediately denied all the allegations, which are being widely broadcast on Russian state media, and Mr Kuleba took to Twitter.
"No, Ukraine did NOT: attack Donetsk or Lugansk, send saboteurs or APCs (armoured personnel carriers) over the Russian border, shell Russian territory, shell Russian border crossing, conduct acts of sabotage," he said.
"Ukraine also does NOT plan any such actions. Russia, stop your fake-producing factory now," he wrote.
Also on Monday, local officials said shelling on the government-held village of Novoluganske, 35 kilometres north of the eastern rebel stronghold Donetsk, had killed a civilian there.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told NBC news that a Russian invasion of its neighbour would be an "extremely violent" operation followed by a brutal occupation.
"It will be a war waged by Russia on the Ukrainian people to repress them, to crush them, to harm them," the White House official said.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said there was no sign of Russian forces withdrawing from the border and Moscow-backed rebels continued to shell Ukrainian positions.
In recent weeks, according to US intelligence, Moscow has massed an invasion force of troops, tanks, missile batteries and warships around Ukraine's borders in Belarus, Russia, Crimea and the Black Sea.
Mr Biden has said that US intelligence believes that Mr Putin has made a decision to invade Ukraine and that commanders are readying units to attack within days.
Western powers have threatened a crippling sanctions package if Russia invades and shortly before Putin's announcement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said sanctions would also be "on the table" if Russia recognised the separatists.
With additional reporting by AFP.
