State Department criticizes Russian push to recognize breakaway Ukrainian regions

The Biden administration is criticizing a move by Russian lawmakers to encourage President Vladimir Putin to formally recognize two Kremlin-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as fully independent states, a move that could destabilize the U.S.-backed government in Kyiv.

The Duma, Russia’s parliament, said in a resolution passed this week that such a policy would be justified because of the economic blockade placed on the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics and the shelling of the populace by Ukrainian military forces. The pro-Russian separatists have been engaged in a bloody eight-year civil war with Kyiv that has produced a military stalemate on the ground.

Such a move by Moscow would amount to a “wholesale rejection” of its commitments under the 2015 Minsk agreements, which outline the process for the full reintegration of the parts of Ukraine’s Donbas region controlled by Russian proxies, State Department officials said in a statement. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of failing to live up to commitments made in the Minsk accords.

“Enactment of this resolution would further undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said.

It would constitute a “gross violation of international law” and call into question Russia’s stated commitments to seeking a peaceful resolution of the crisis, Mr. Blinken said. He warned of a “swift and firm response” from the United States and the nation’s allies and partners should Moscow send tanks across the border, although the U.S. and NATO have already said they would not send troops into Ukraine — which is not a member of NATO — to repel an invasion.

While U.S. and European concern that a Russian military move against its neighbor could be imminent, recognition of the breakaway enclaves could prove a tempting alternative for Mr. Putin, following the model of the Kremlin’s takeover of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and forcing the Biden administration and its European allies to decide how to respond.