Putin warns of unprecedented 'consequences' for any interfere

Vladimir Putin has warned the international community of “consequences greater than any you have faced in history” over any attempted interference as he declared the start of an invasion into Ukraine.

Putin announced what he described as a “special military operation” in the breakaway eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, saying that Russia was responding to pleas for help from the separatists there.

Yet shortly after Putin’s televised address at around 6 am in Moscow, explosions were heard outside Kiev itself and heavy clashes were reported in several major Ukrainian cities.

The Ukraine government said Putin had “declared war” and Russian forces were entering the country from Belarus in the north and Crimea in the south, as well as Russia to the east.

In his address, Putin claimed that “our plans are not to occupy Ukraine, we do not plan to impose ourselves on anyone by force”.

He repeated his position that Ukrainian membership in Nato was unacceptable and that he had authorized military action after Russia had been left with no choice but to defend itself against what he said were threats emanating from its neighbor to the west.

He claimed the Russian military operation aimed to ensure a “demilitarisation” of Ukraine, as well as to “de-Nazify” the country, and warned the West against any interference.

To anyone who would consider interfering from outside: If you do, you will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history. All the relevant decisions have been taken. I hope you hear me, Putin said.

“Russia cannot feel safe, develop, and exist with a constant threat emanating from the territory of modern Ukraine,” he added. “All responsibility for bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine.”

In Washington, Joe Biden warned that the US and its allies would respond in a “united and decisive way”, while at the United Nations, UN Secretary-General Secretary-General António Guterres asked the Russian leader to withdraw his troops and “give peace a chance”.

Joe Biden, who plans to address the American public on Thursday, said: “The world will hold Russia accountable.”

By Andrew Buncombe. Full article.
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