Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine as independent. Putin made the announcement at the end of a speech communicating his vision of a Ukraine that has historically been part of Russia and is now under the control of the West. Putin said, “Those who seize the power and keep the power in Kyiv, we demand to stop hostilities immediately, otherwise, all the responsibility for the possible continuation of the bloodbath will be on the consciousness of the regime that is ruling in Kyiv.”
