Russia to recognise Ukraine rebel territories as independent, UN warns against 'unilateral action' | Top points

After President Vladimir Putin convened a meeting with his top officials on Monday, the Kremlin said Russia would recognise the separatist territories in Ukraine.

Amid heightened tensions with Ukraine, the Kremlin on Monday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin would recognise the Russia-backed separatist territories in Ukraine. This comes after Putin convened a meeting with his top officials where he talked about recognising the "independence" of the separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.

The United Nations has warned Russia against a 'unilateral action' that could 'undermine' Ukraine's sovereignty, according to news agency AFP.

Following Putin's statement, Ukrainian President Zelensky convened a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. In a tweet, Zelensky said, "Given the statements made at the meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I held urgent consultations with Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz and convened the National Security and Defence Council." Follow Russia-Ukraine crisisLIVE Updates

Here are the top developments of today on the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

In the meeting with top officials on Monday, Vladimir Putin briefed about the origin of the conflict, starting from the 2014 coup in Ukraine.

After the 2014 coup in Ukraine, part of the population did not accept the outcome. Let me remind you that this was an anti-constitutional, blood-shedding coup that killed many innocent people. It was truly an armed coup. Nobody can argue that," Putin said.

"Some of the country’s citizens did not accept the coup. They were residents of Crimea and the people who currently live in Donbass. Those people declared that they were establishing two independent republics, the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic. This was the point when the confrontation started between the Kiev officials and the people living on that territory," he added.