Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a military operation in Ukraine to defend separatists in the east of the country.
Truetells Nigeria reports that the Russian President made the announcement in a surprised televised statement on Thursday
“I have made the decision of a military operation,” Putin who has seen his country hit by multiple sanctions.
This newspaper reports that the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had appealed to Vladimir Putin to stop his troops from entering Ukraine.
He made the personal plea at an emergency Security Council meeting Wednesday night.
“President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine, give peace a chance, too many people have already died,” Guterres said.
US President Joe Biden hadsaid the US will deploy additional troops and equipment to Baltic members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in Eastern Europe.
Biden also said the US will slam sanctions on two Russian financial institutions.
He added that sanctions would also be imposed on Russia’s elites and their family members.
Recall that a former US President Donald Trump had praised Vladimir Putin for deploying Russian troops into separatist-held parts of eastern Ukraine in what he described as a “peacekeeping mission”.
Truetells Nigeria reports that Putin had ordered the troops hours after signing decrees recognising the independence of Moscow-backed breakaway territories of Ukraine — the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic.
According to the New York Times, Trump, who said it would not have happened if he was still president, described Putin as a “genius”.
“I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said ‘this is genius’,” Trump was quoted as saying on a radio show.
“Putin declares a big portion of Ukraine as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.
“Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent,’ a large section of Ukraine. I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s going to go in and be a peacekeeper.
“That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. We could use that on our southern border. There were more army tanks than I’d ever seen. They’re going to keep peace, all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy.”
