Russian President Vladimir Putin has told foreign leaders that Moscow is likely to officially recognize the sovereignty of the the two breakaway regions in Ukraine's war-torn east.
In a statement released on Monday, the Kremlin revealed that Putin had notified French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that he intends to sign a decree recognizing the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) People’s Republics “in the near future.” According to officials, both Macron and Scholz “expressed their disappointment with this development.”