Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his Defense Ministry to send Russian troops into eastern Ukraine's two breakaway regions, according to a decree published early on Tuesday, after he said Moscow would recognize their independence.
The Kremlin said Putin ordered the Russian forces to "maintain peace" in eastern Ukraine.
Although the eastern Ukrainian provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk are claimed in whole by pro-Russia separatists, only parts of the provinces are under their control.
It is not immediately clear if the order in the decree means Russian troops will be dispatched only within the territory already controlled by the separatists.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is "not afraid of anything or anyone," after Russia's recognition of the two separatist regions.
"Today's recognition of the separatist self-declared 'People's Republics' in eastern Ukraine... is a serious blow to all diplomatic efforts," Baerbock said Monday evening in Berlin.
"Russian troops moving into Donbas would not be a new step," he said, stressing that Russian forces have been deployed covertly in the separatist regions since 2014. »