US President Joe Biden has condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognize the independence of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine. In a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky, the White House said it had strongly condemned the Russian president’s decision to recognize the so-called “independence” of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics of Ukraine.

A spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholes said in a statement that Germany, France and the United States had agreed to respond to Russia’s decision to recognize the independence of the two divided regions in eastern Ukraine.

The speaker did not mention the sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries. But he said Schulz had previously spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and then with French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden.

“The Allies are united in their commitment not to dilute their commitment to supporting Ukraine’s regional unity,” a spokesman for Schulz said in a statement.

In the wake of the military-political crisis in the Donbass region since 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed two decrees calling on Russia to recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics from Ukraine. The move was widely criticized by Western nations. Russia was preparing for an “immediate invasion” of Ukraine.

Putin ordered Russian Defense Ministry forces to ensure peace in the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, and two decrees signed by Putin to recognize the two republics were published on the Government Legal Information website on Monday evening. The task of ensuring peace in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions was carried out at the request of their presidents, Denis Bushlin and Denis Paseknik, in accordance with the Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Agreements concluded with them.

In two decrees, Putin ordered the Russian Foreign Ministry to hold talks with Donetsk and Luhansk officials on establishing diplomatic relations with the two republics and to document the agreements reached in this regard.

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