UK warns Russia not to recognise breakaway Ukraine regions

Britain says move by Russia shows 'disregard for commitments under Minsk agreements'

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (R) and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (L) attend a joint news conference following their talks in Kiev, Ukraine, 17 February 2022. EPA

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The UK on Thursday warned the Kremlin against formally recognising two pro-Moscow separatist territories in Ukraine, days after the Russian Parliament voted to urge President Vladimir Putin to do so.

"The Duma's request that Vladimir Putin recognises the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent shows flagrant disregard for Russia's commitments under the Minsk agreements," British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

The agreements, named after the Belarusian capital where they were agreed to in 2014 and 2015, sought to halt the war between the Ukrainian government and the secessionists, and are the only framework for resolving the conflict peacefully.

"If this request were accepted, it would represent a further attack on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, signal an end to the Minsk process and demonstrate a Russian decision to choose a path of confrontation over dialogue," Ms Truss said.

"We urge Russia to end its pattern of destabilising behaviour against Ukraine and to implement the commitments it has freely signed up to, including the Minsk agreements."

Russia's Parliament, the Duma, voted on Tuesday to urge Mr Putin to recognise the independence of the two Ukrainian separatist regions, amid tensions with the West over Moscow's troop build-up near by.

Russia has issued passports to hundreds of thousands of residents of the separatist-held enclaves, where Ukrainian government troops have been battling insurgents in a conflict that has claimed more than 14,000 lives since 2014.

The Duma proposal prompted strong condemnation from the US on Wednesday, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying it would "constitute a gross violation of international law".

Lidia, 92, a Ukrainian who has lived here during the time of the conflict, stands at the entrance to her house in the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants, near the front line with Ukrainian government forces in Luhansk, Ukraine. AP

Olga Matvienko, an inspector at the migration service office, in Donetsk, Ukraine, says the number of people applying for Russian passports has increased in recent weeks. AP

Valentyna Konstantynovska, 79, is taught to use a weapon during training for civilians, organised by the Azov Special Forces Unit of Ukraine's National Guard, in Donetsk. AP

Ukrainian pensioner Lidiya Silina, 87, at her house near the border between Belarus and Ukraine. Russia has stationed troops in Belarus in recent weeks. AFP

Ukrainian teenagers dig trenches for soldiers facing off with Russian-backed separatists, in the Mariupol region. AFP

A young woman handles a weapon during basic combat training for civilians, in Mariupol. AP

A small child struggles to remove ammunition from a clip during a basic combat training for civilians, in Mariupol. AP

Civilians are being trained in Mariupol, where President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to mark what he had declared Ukraine's 'Day of Unity'. AP

A plane set as a monument to a former military base near the Three Sisters border crossing between, Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, in Senkivka, Ukraine. Getty Images

A military instructor teaches a schoolboy to shoot with Kalashnikov rifles, during a training session in Lviv. AFP

A salesperson works in a grocery store in Orlivka. Tensions with Russia have hit the economy hard, Ukrainian authorities say. Getty Images

A child on a swing with his grandmother in Prymorsk, Ukraine, as Russian forces conduct large-scale military exercises in Belarus, across the border. Getty Images

Pensioner Viktor collects firewood in Novokostyantynivka. European natural gas prices surged as the US rejected Russia’s claims that it was pulling back troops. Getty Images

A fisherman tests his new fishing rod on a beach in Prymorsk, Ukraine. Getty Images

A customer in a barber shop in Kiev. Bloomberg

Passengers travel on a train in Kiev. Ukrainians have gone back to work, but are “not naive to the fact of how serious the situation is”, reports say. Bloomberg

Shoppers in a supermarket in Kiev. Bloomberg

A large street mural in Kiev. Getty Images

A woman walks past a vendor on a street in the Ukrainian capital. Getty Images

Ania, 67, a Ukrainian, gestures on the pedestrian border cross in Medyka, south-east Poland. AFP

A skateboarder performs a trick behind a mural of poet and activist Vasyl Stus, in Kiev. Getty Images

A woman gets her hair done at a beauty salon in Kiev. Getty Images

A man works out at Kiev's popular outdoor gym. Getty Images

A woman works in a gun shop in the capital. Getty Images

Meanwhile In Kiev, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned that if Russia moved to recognise the rebel territories, "Russia de facto and de jure will withdraw from the Minsk agreements with all the attendant consequences".

But at a heated UN Security Council meeting earlier on Thursday, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergey Vershinin blamed the current crisis on Kiev's alleged breaches of the ceasefire agreement reached in the accords.

"Ukraine stubbornly refuses to implement the provisions of the Minsk agreements," he told the Council, accusing Kiev of repeated attacks on the region affecting "thousands of victims".