Ukraine peace agreement 'does not exist' anymore: Putin

Militants of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic train at a range in Donetsk. Credit: Reuters Photo

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Western-brokered peace agreements seeking to end a conflict in eastern Ukraine no longer existed, after he recognised the independence of the ex-Soviet country's separatist regions.

Also read: Putin asks upper house to send Russian army to back Ukraine separatists

"The Minsk agreements do not exist now, we recognised the DNR and LNR," Putin said, using the abbreviations for the separatist regions in Donetsk and Lugansk. He spoke after Russia's upper house of parliament granted him permission to use the Russian army outside Russia.

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