Putin ratchets up Ukraine grievances in TV broadcast with top security officials
CNN
Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly stepped up his rhetoric in the Ukraine crisis Monday in a highly choreographed meeting, accusing Kyiv of carrying out acts of aggression and saying he was considering a request to officially recognize the breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.
Putin also accused the West of threats and blackmail during the previously unscheduled convening of the Russian security council that, in unusually theatrical setting, was shown on television.
The broadcast aired just hours after the White House announced that US President Joe Biden agreed "in principle" to French-brokered talks with Putin as long as Russia does not further invade Ukraine. The Kremlin said earlier on Monday that there were "no concrete plans" for a meeting.