Ukraine conflict: Putin tells Russians security is non-negotiableon February 23, 2022 at 9:37 am

Amid reports of more Russian troops moving closer towards Ukraine’s borders, President Vladimir Putin has insisted that Russia’s interests and security are non-negotiable.

He gave a video address, hours after US President Joe Biden warned of “the beginning of a Russian invasion”.

Russia was always “open for direct and honest dialogue”, he said, but he had full confidence in the military.

The West has announced a range of sanctions on Russian interests.

“We’ve cut off Russia’s government from Western financing,” Mr Biden said, after Russia’s upper house of parliament authorised the president to send troops into two parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatists.

Mr Putin earlier declared that Russia had recognised the independence of the so-called people’s republics of Luhansk and Donetsk, ordering Russian troops into the areas and tearing up a peace accord with Ukraine.

His claim that they would go to “maintain peace” was derided as nonsense by the West. Mr Biden said “to put it simply, Russia just announced that it is carving out a big chunk of Ukraine”.

Despite Mr Putin’s insistence that he was still open to diplomacy, France’s foreign minister and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken both cancelled planned meetings with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

It is not yet clear if any Russian troops have yet cross the border into Ukraine. However, US satellite imagery has highlighted several new troop and equipment deployments in western Russia, and more than 100 vehicles at an airfield in Belarus near Ukraine’s border.

Mr Biden said he was announcing an initial tranche of measures, targeting high-ranking Russia’s “elites” and its foreign debt, to prevent it raising state financing from Western financial institutions.

The European Union and UK also announced a wave of sanctions against Russian banks and individuals on Tuesday:

European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said it was a mistake to exclude the Russian leader. “Vladimir Putin should be first on the list,” she told Czech daily Hospodarske Noviny.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK would use “every lever at our disposal” to stop Russia’s threats against Ukraine. Responding to criticism from some MPs that the UK government had not gone far enough Ms Truss wrote in The Times that G7 allies had agreed on further sanctions and “nothing is off the table”.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier said he would consider cutting off diplomatic ties with Russia altogether over the crisis.

In an evening address to the nation, he said he was calling up military reserve members for training – but also said Ukraine would still pursue a diplomatic solution.

There was “no need” for a full military mobilisation, Mr Zelensky said.

Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine have seized large swathes of territory since fierce fighting broke out in 2014. An estimated 14,000 people – including many civilians – have since died.