Zelensky urges international talks over Kremlin decision

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said early on Tuesday that Kyiv has urged the international community to hold emergency talks over Russia's decision on the status of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Ukraine has called for an emergency summit of the Normandy Format to address the issue, Zelensky said in a video address to the nation posted on Facebook.

"The latest actions of the Russian Federation are a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state. Russia is solely responsible for the consequences of such decisions," Zelensky said.

Stressing that Kyiv is committed to a peaceful solution to the crisis, Zelensky said: "We will not give anything to anyone, and we are sure of that."

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed two decrees recognizing "the Lugansk People's Republic "and "the Donetsk People's Republic" as independent states.

One day after Putin's decision, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it had recalled a senior Ukrainian diplomat from Moscow for consultations, according to Reuters.

The Normandy Format, established in 2014, is a diplomatic group of senior representatives from Ukraine, Germany, Russia, and France formed to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The Minsk agreements, reached in September 2014 and February 2015, outline the steps needed to end the conflict between the Ukrainian government troops and militia groups in Donbass.

Xinhua - Agencies