MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an order for Russia to recognize passports and other documents issued by separatist rebel authorities in eastern Ukraine.
The signing, announced by the Kremlin on Saturday, brought sharp criticism from Ukrainian officials. Ukraine’s national security council head, Oleksander Turchynov, said the order effectively means that Russia is recognizing the rebel authorities and is abandoning the Minsk Agreement, a two-year-old stalemated plan to end the war between the government and the Russia-backed separatists.
