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An urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council is set to convene after Russia recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine and hours later said it would deploy troops there to “maintain peace”.
The United States said the announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin was an “unprovoked violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and backed Ukraine’s call for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.
The meeting is expected to take place at 02:00 GMT and is expected to be an open meeting, rather than closed-door.
Western countries have repeatedly warned Russia not to officially recognise the separatist regions in Donetsk and Luhansk, and undermine the fragile ‘Minsk’ peace agreement in an area that is thought to be home to some four million people.
Russia has been massing its forces around Ukraine’s borders for weeks, raising concern among the US and other Western governments that might be planning to invade the country. Moscow has insisted it has no plans to do so.
(Al Jazeera)
Here are the latest updates:
China delivers brief statement on Ukraine crisis
China’s UN representative Zhang Jun made a very brief statement to the Security Council.
Zhang said Beijing was playing “close attention” to developments in Ukraine and urged “all parties” to “exercise restraint and avoid any action that might fuel tensions”.
Unlike the speakers before him, he did not condemn Moscow’s decision to recognise the two separatist-held territories.
Zhang said it was a “complex” situation.
US diplomats to spend night in Poland
The US State Department has announced its diplomats will spend the night in Poland for security reasons.
They had already been moved from Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, to the western city of Lviv.
“The fact that we are taking prudent precautions for the sake of the safety of U.S. government personnel and U.S. citizens, as we do regularly worldwide, in no way undermines our support for, or our commitment to, Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “Our commitment to Ukraine transcends any one location.”
The State Department again urged all US citizens to leave Ukraine.
Who’s in the Security Council meeting?
An update on the Security Council itself.
It has 15 members, five of them permanent, and each will address this emergency meeting.
China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States are the five permanent members and have the power of veto.
The 10 non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly. The current members are below with the end of their term in brackets.
Albania (2023)
Brazil (2023)
Gabon (2023)
Ghana (2023)
India (2022)
Ireland (2022)
Kenya (2022)
Mexico (2022)
Norway (2022)
United Arab Emirates (2023)
Security Council members express deep concern at Russia moves
Representatives from Albania, France, India and Brazil have addressed the meeting.
All have expressed deep or severe concern about the latest developments in Ukraine, stressing the need for deescalation and diplomatic dialogue.
Albania’s representative was particularly vehement in his condemnation, noting that Moscow had made similar moves in Georgia in 2008 and in Crimea.
“Who will be next?” Ferit Hoxha asked. “Every UN state should be alarmed.”
US says “no one can stand on the sidelines”
US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield has just finished addressing the council.
She has urged the UN to come together and condemn Russia’s move.
“No one can stand on the sidelines,” she said, stressing Moscow’s actions in Ukraine represent “an attack on every UN member state and the UN Charter”.
She earlier told the meeting that Putin was wanting a return to the past.
“Putin wants the world to travel back in time, to a time before the United Nations, to a time when empires ruled the world,” she said. “It is not 1919, it is 2022.”
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield looks on as United Nations Security Council meets after Russia recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent entities [Carlo Allegri/Reuters]
UN urges diplomatic solution to crisis
Opening the emergency meeting, the United Nations has expressed “great concern” about Russia’s decision to recognise the rebel areas in eastern Ukraine, and the implications of the latest developments for the stability of the region.
Security Council meeting gets underway
The emergency meeting of the Security Council has now begun.
The council is chaired by Russia.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy calls for ‘clear and effective’ steps against Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of wrecking peace talks and ruled out making any territorial concessions.
Zelenskyy was talking in an address to the nation early on Tuesday morning.
He told the country that Ukraine was expecting “clear and effective” steps from its allies to act against Russia.
‘Key topic: sanctions’: Ukraine’s foreign minister
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says he has had another call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“Key topic: sanctions,” he wrote on Twitter, stressing that the imposition of “tough sanctions” was crucial after Russia’s “illegal” declaration.
Taking into account the dynamics of the situation, I had another call with @SecBlinken ahead of our tomorrow’s meeting in Washington, DC. Key topic: sanctions. I underscored the need to impose tough sanctions on Russia in response to its illegal actions.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 22, 2022
World capitals don’t sleep now, regardless of their time zones. The scope & timeline of sanctions are being finalized. Ukraine insists: further Russian actions rely on how the world reacts. Russia must be in no doubt that the world talks the talk and walks the walk on sanctions.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 22, 2022
Biden signs ‘executive order’ on sanctions targeting rebel regions
US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to prohibit all new investment, trade, and financing by US citizens to, from, or in the so-called “Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics” regions of Ukraine.
“The E.O. is designed to prevent Russia from profiting off of this blatant violation of international law. It is not directed at the people of Ukraine or the Ukrainian government and will allow humanitarian and other related activity to continue in these regions,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
He says the US will work with Ukraine and its allies to take action in response to Putin’s declaration of the eastern rebel regions as “independent”.
US President Joe Biden signing the executive order to prohibit trade and investment between people in the US and the two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine that Moscow has recognised as “independent” [The White House via Reuters]
Tanks seen on outskirts of Donetsk: Reuters
Reuters news agency is reporting a witness seeing columns of military vehicles including tanks on the streets on the outskirts of Donetsk early on Tuesday.
The Reuters reporter saw about five tanks in a column on the edge of the city and two more in another part of town.
The report says no insignia were visible, and that no tanks had been seen on the streets in previous days.
UN Security Council to meet after Russia move
The United Nations Security Council is due to meet in just over an hour’s time over the Ukraine crisis.
Ukraine called for the meeting and was backed by the United States, as well as other countries.
Russia holds the rotating presidency of the council this month.
Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi, who is in Washington, DC, says that there was some debate over the format of the meeting, with Russia wanting a closed-door session and other countries led by the US pushing for an open discussion.
UK to announce ‘significant’ Russia sanctions on Tuesday
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce a “significant package of sanctions” in a few hours time.
A spokesperson told the Reuters news agency that the sanctions will be agreed to at a meeting of the United Kingdom government’s crisis response committee at 06:30 GMT and take immediate effect.
‘Brazen’: US calls for urgent UN Security Council meeting
Calling Russia’s move to recognise Luhansk and Donetsk a “brazen attempt to usurp Ukraine’s sovereignty”, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations has backed Ukraine’s call for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.
“The Security Council must demand that Russia respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, a UN Member State,” Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement.
“There can be no fence-sitters in this crisis,” she warned.
We support Ukraine’s call for an urgent meeting of the @UN Security Council. We must all stand with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s brazen attempt to usurp Ukraine’s sovereign territory. There can be no fence-sitters in this crisis. https://t.co/SI81WBLkmZ
— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) February 21, 2022
Russia to sign military cooperation deals with breakaway regions
Russia’s lower house of parliament will consider draft laws to provide military cooperation and border protection to the breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine later on Tuesday.
An agreement signed by Putin and published on Monday shows Russia also plans to build military bases in Donetsk and Luhansk.
People wave Russian national flags celebrating the recognizing the independence in the center of Donetsk, the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants, eastern Ukraine, late Monday, Feb. 21, 2022. In a fast-moving political theater, Russian President Vladimir Putin has moved quickly to recognize the independence of separatist regions in eastern Ukraine in a show of defiance against the West amid fears of Russian invasion in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the Ukraine crisis. I’m Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur.
Read all the updates from Monday, February 21 here.
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