Putin ratchets up tension with moves in eastern Ukraine
| Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated dramatically on Monday, with Russian President Vladimir Putin taking steps many saw as the groundwork for a military invasion of the country of more than 40 million people.
The Biden administration and its allies have for weeks pursued a diplomatic off-ramp to avoid a Russian invasion that could trigger war in Europe. But the window appeared to close on Monday when Putin signed decrees recognizing as independent the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, two regions of Ukraine’s Donbas where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces for years. |
