Newsday - Ukraine crisis: 'Peacekeepers straight out of Putin's playbook' - BBC Sounds

President Vladimir Putin has told a televised meeting of his security council that Ukraine is being used as a tool against Russia, presenting a major and dangerous threat to his country.

Mr Putin also asked the meeting to consider an appeal for recognition by the two breakaway regions of Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatists. A small group of people in the centre of Donetsk celebrated the decision by waving Russian flags and setting off fireworks.

Eyewitness reports from Donetsk - one of the two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine - say that convoys of armoured military vehicles have been seen entering the main city.

For more we spoke to Michael Bociurkiw, Global affairs analyst and former spokesman for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe who told us this kind of aggression is straight out of the Putin playbook. The concern now, he said, is the Russians won’t stop at the contact line but go for other parts of Luhansk and Donetsk.