Russia’s Putin has broken international law, Britain says

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recognition of breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine is a breach of international law, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday.

While Johnson was speaking, Putin signed a decree recognising the independence of the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk regions, upping the ante in a crisis the West fears could unleash a major war.

“I gather just as I came into this press conference that Vladimir Putin has effectively announced that Russia is recognising the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. This is plainly in breach of international law. It’s a … flagrant violation of the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine,” Johnson told a press conference.

“It is a repudiation of the Minsk process and the Minsk agreements, and I think it’s a very ill omen and a very dark sign.”

After Putin had signed the decree, British foreign minister Liz Truss said the move violated the U.N. Charter and signalled an end to the Minsk process – a set of agreements designed to end a separatist war by Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.

via Reuters