MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin told France’s president and Germany’s chancellor during phone calls on Monday that he planned to sign a decree recognising the two breakaway regions of Ukraine as independent entities shortly, the Kremlin said.
The French and German leaders voiced disappointment after hearing the decision, the Kremlin said in a readout of the phone calls.
(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh, Alexander Marrow, Darya Korsunskaya; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Heavens)