Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting. File photo

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine after recognising them as independent on Monday, accelerating a crisis the West fears could unleash a major war.

A long-feared Russian invasion of Ukraine appeared to be imminent, if not already underway, with Putin ordering forces into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine.

READ MORE

Putin, Biden agree in principle to Ukraine summit as tensions soar

Russian forces to stay in Belarus as Ukraine braced for war

Putin's directive came hours after he recognised the separatist regions in a rambling, fact-bending discourse on European history.

The move paved the way to provide them military support, antagonising Western leaders who regard it as a breach of world order, and set off a frenzied scramble by the US and others to respond.

Troops take part in the military drills of the armed forces of Russia. Reuters

A Reuters witness saw tanks and other military hardware moving through the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk after Putin formally recognised the breakaway regions and ordered the deployment of Russian forces to "keep the peace".

About five tanks were seen in a column on the edge of Donetsk and two more in another part of town, a Reuters reporter said. No insignia were visible on the vehicles.

Putin's announcement drew international condemnation and immediate US sanctions to halt US business activity in the breakaway regions and ban import of all goods from those areas.

Underscoring the urgency, the UN Security Council held a rare nighttime emergency meeting on Monday at the request of Ukraine, the US and other countries. Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo opened the session with a warning that "the risk of major conflict is real and needs to be prevented at all costs.”

United Nations Security Council meets in New York City, US, on Monday. Reuters

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sought to project calm, telling the country: "We are not afraid of anyone or anything. We don’t owe anyone anything. And we won’t give anything to anyone.” His foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, would be in Washington on Tuesday to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the State Department said.

The White House issued an executive order to prohibit US investment and trade in the separatist regions, and additional measures — likely sanctions — were to be announced Tuesday. Those sanctions are independent of what Washington has prepared in the event of a Russian invasion, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy gestures during a press conference. File photo

A vaguely worded decree signed by Putin did not say if troops were on the move, and it cast the order as an effort to "maintain peace.” But it appeared to dash the slim remaining hopes of averting a major conflict in Europe that could cause massive casualties, energy shortages on the continent and economic chaos around the globe.

The State Department, meanwhile, said US personnel in Lviv — in Ukraine’s far west — would spend the night in Poland but return to Ukraine to continue their diplomatic work and emergency consular services. It again urged any American citizens in Ukraine to leave immediately.