Russia moved quickly Tuesday to secure its hold on Ukraine's rebel regions following the recognition of their independence with legislation allowing the deployment of troops there in a challenge to Western governments, which are preparing to announce sanctions against Moscow.
The new Russian bills, which are set to be quickly rubber-stamped by the Kremlin-controlled parliament, may set the stage for Russian troops to move deeper into Ukraine as the U.S. and its allies have feared.
Several senior lawmakers suggested Tuesday that Russia could recognize the rebel-held territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine in their original administrative borders, including the chunks of land currently under the Ukrainian control. Britain and European Union countries have separately indicated that they also are planning to announce sanctions.
Putin announced the move in an hourlong televised speech, blaming the U.S. and its allies for the current crisis and describing Ukraine's bid to join NATO as an existential challenge to Russia.Russia says it wants Western guarantees that NATO won't allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members -- and Putin said Monday that a simple moratorium on Ukraine's accession wouldn't be enough.
In a stark warning to Ukraine, the Russian leader charged that it has unfairly inherited Russia's historic land granted to it by the Communist rulers of the Soviet Union and mocked its effort to shed the Communist past in a so-called "decommunization" campaign.
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