More……… responses to Putin.
Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to President Putin on the phone this afternoon.
The conversation focused on the situation in and around Ukraine and on the Russian troops along the Russia-Ukraine and Belarus-Ukraine border.
Putin informed Scholz about the meeting of the Russian security council earlier today and Scholz condemned Russian plans to recognise the so-called people’s republics of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states.
Such a step would be in stark contradiction to the Minsk Agreements and would represent a unilateral violation of this treaty by Russia.
The chancellor called on the Russian president to de-escalate the situation and pull back forces from the border with Ukraine. He stressed Russia’s special responsibility to maintain the truce in Ukraine’s east and send signals of de-escalation.
At the moment the chancellor is in discussion with his closest partners, among them the French President Macron and Ukrainian President Zelensky.
Russia's move would be flagrant breach of international law - UK PM
UK PM Boris Johnson has just been asked about Vladimir Putin's move at a Covid news conference.
He says that recognising the self-declared republics in eastern Ukraine would be "plainly in breach of international law".
"It's a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine," he says. "It is a repudiation of the Minsk process and the Minsk agreements and I think it's a very ill omen and a very dark sign."