Minsk

The EU and NATO tonight condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address to the Russian people that he recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics as independent states. At the end of the address, Vladimir Putin signed presidential decrees recognizing the republics and signed agreements on friendship and cooperation.

"We warn that such a step could lead to further violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and would directly damage the spirit and word of the Minsk agreements," the joint statement of the six European states reads.

In connection with the Russian State Duma's call for recognition of the breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk and the verbal note received from the Ukrainian Embassy in Sofia, the Foreign Ministry said:

"On Thursday morning, the Ukrainian security forces shelled nine settlements in the territories of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics for two hours", this was announced by the representatives of the republics in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of Ceasefire, writes Sputnik.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on on Feb. 12 accused the United States of seeking to provoke a conflict in Ukraine, during a call with his US counterpart Antony Blinken, the Russian foreign ministry said.

Hungary will not allow the deployment of additional forces on its territory, because the national army is capable of providing national security in the midst of tensions around Ukraine, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pter Szijjrt.

The Russian and Belarusian armies started ten-day maneuvers in Belarus today, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced. This is happening at a time of heightened tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine, according to world agencies.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Feb. 7 had a phone conversation and discussed regional developments, particularly the tension between Russia and Ukraine.

Stoltenberg thanked Erdoğan for his "active support" and "personal engagement to find a political solution" to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine tension.

The arrival of the heaviest military equipment in the West will herald the Polish government's pledge from July 2021 to "radically increase" the country's defence capabilities and to expand the Polish Armed Forces to a staggering 300,000 personnel - a combination of the regular professional army and part-time volunteer Territorial Defence Force, which was created in 2017.