Sharjah24 – Reuters: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy convened an emergency security council meeting in Kyiv on Sunday (February 21) evening after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent, and ordered the Russian army to launch what Moscow called a peacekeeping operation into the area, accelerating a crisis the West fears could unleash a major war.

Zelenskiy said he was "urgently" preparing an address in the early hours of Tuesday (February 22) on Russia's recognition of Russian-backed separatist regions as independent. 

The Ukrainian leader tweeted that he was also planning to speak to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and European Council President Charles Michel after speaking to U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier.