that this is a step towards peace. around the world there are concerns that he has something else in mind. vladimir putin has said that he still is open to diplomacy, but after weeks of talks, many in the west may be wondering what diplomacy means to president putin. moscow correspondent caroline davies there, reporting from rostov on don. the ukrainian president has said that russia had violated ukrainian sovereignty and thanked western allies for their sanctions against russia. translation: ~ ., russia. translation: a, , translation: ukraine welcomes new sanctions against translation: ukraine welcomes new sanctions against the translation: ukraine welcomes new sanctions against the russian - sanctions against the russian federation which were announced by the eu, the usa and the uk. we hope and expect that these sanctions will be enhanced in the nearest future.
borisjohnson says even more sanctions are coming against russia if it continues to threaten ukraine. in parliament this afternoon, the labour leader, sir keir starmer, pressed the prime minister to impose further measures because, he said, there d already been an invasion, adding, if not now, when? the prime minister also confirmed the uk will be providing more military support to ukraine. today, ukraine urged its nationals to leave russia immediately. meanwhile, president putin said the security of russia and its citizens is non negotiable. earlier this week, president putin said he was recognising two areas in eastern ukraine the so called people s republics of donetsk and luhansk as independent. they ve been controlled by russian backed fighters since 2014. mr putin said he was sending in troops as peace keepers. the united states says that s an invasion. our moscow correspondent
earlier this week president putin said he was recognising two areas in eastern ukraine called donetsk and luhansk as independent . these areas have been controlled by russian backed fighters since 2014. mr putin said he was sending in troops as peace keepers. the united states says that s an invasion. our moscow correspondent caroline davies is in the city of rostov on don, 100km from the border with ukraine. so far the kremlin have been dismissive about some of the sanctions, suggesting they wouldn t have an impact on russia. the russian people may feel differently and concerned about how it will affect them. today is te defenders of the fatherland in russia.-
there have been persistent reports in the western media that russia s military campaign may not be going according to plan. but according to the russians themselves, the focus of their operations is switching east towards the donbas because the objectives of the first stage of their military operation have largely been achieved. have a listen to the head of the general staff s main operational directorate a little earlier. translation: the main objectives of the first stage of the operation l have generally been accomplished. the combat potential of ukraine s armed forces have been considerably reduced, which makes it possible, i emphasise, to focus our core efforts on achieving the main goal the liberation of donbas. our moscow correspondent caroline davies gave us this update. nancy, i think we have to be careful about exactly how far this change of strategy might go. of course, we heard from the ministry of defence earlier, talking about the fact that the plan is all going according
our moscow correspondent caroline davies. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in kyiv. a short while ago, she gave her assessment on how the announcement from russia is being read in ukraine. when this invasion began, there seemed to be wide reaching goals by president putin, who made it clear he did not accept the existence of ukraine and what he called a puppet government. the statement from moscow talked about the first phase of the military operation had gone according to plan, it was a success. we don t know how many phases of this military campaign there are going to be, but we have always known that it is that area of eastern ukraine, the donbas, which of course includes mariupol, and that land corridor around the south linking to the crimean peninsula, at the very minimum, were the main goals of moscow. and that has again been confirmed in this statement. is what s happening around kyiv and there was just an explosion before we went on air is this a diver