Political | Process

“Today, the leadership of the DPR and LPR received appeals to recognize their sovereignty in connection with the military aggression of the Ukrainian authorities, massive shelling of the territory of Donbas, as a result of which the civilian population suffers,”

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• “With all this in mind, the President of Russia said that he intended to sign a corresponding decree in the near future,” the statement read, adding that the “President of France and the Federal Chancellor of Germany expressed their disappointment with this development.”

• Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told Fox News’ ‘America’s Newsroom’ on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “acting in a way consistent with a man who has decided that he wants to invade Ukraine again.”

• “We’re absolutely prepared to sit down and seriously discuss with Mr. Putin a diplomatic way forward here, and we have been serious about it now for weeks,” Kirby said. “We have laid out tangible potential proposals here for the Russians to reciprocate. And they simply haven’t been willing to go there.”

• During an appearance yesterday on Fox News, Kirby said those proposals include changing “the scope and scale of some of our [military] exercises in Europe” and “being willing to talk about offensive missile capabilities in Europe.”

• “I mean, look, it’s very clear what Mr. Putin is doing. I mean, he’s continued to add military capability. We continue to believe that he is acting in a way consistent with a man who has decided that he wants to invade Ukraine again,” the Pentagon official said Monday.

• “And if he does, this will be a war of choice because… he will be leaving on the table, valid diplomatic proposals that we have put forward, that the West has put forward.”

• President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to “the principle” to meet for a summit discussing “security and strategic stability in Europe,” but will only take place if Russia does not invade Ukraine.

• The U.S. State Department is warning Americans in Ukraine Monday that “there is a strong likelihood that any Russian military operations would severely restrict commercial air travel.”

• A U.S. official has warned the United Nations that Russia has compiled a list of Ukrainians “to be killed or sent to camps following a military occupation.”