Voicing “deep concern” over the escalation of tension along the Russia-Ukraine border, India has told the UN Security Council that the immediate priority is de-escalation of tensions, taking into account the “legitimate” security interests of all countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed decrees to recognise Ukraine’s regions of “Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics” as “independent”, escalating the tension in the region and increasing fears of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Putin has also ordered troops into eastern Ukraine in what the Kremlin called a “peacekeeping” mission.