Putin discusses NATO military built-up, sending weapons to Donbass at Security Council Meeting

Putin, regarding the mobilisation of mercenaries from all over the world and sending them to Ukraine said that if Russia sees that some volunteers would like to come and help the people in Donbass, especially without pay, then Russia should meet them halfway and help them relocate to the war zone.

Putin also supported the decision to hand over military units in the Lugansk and Donetsk people's republics. Further, upon military built-up of NATO countries in the eastern region, Putin asked the members to prepare a report on it separately.

Putin stated the above after Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu shared issues for discussion and later asked for approval with the President. He said that firstly, Russia is receiving a huge number of requests from all manner of volunteers from different countries, who would like to come to the Lugansk and Donetsk people's republics to take part in the "liberation movement."

"The largest number of requests, over 16,000, has come from the Middle East. We believe that we should grant these requests, especially since the matter does not concern money but a genuine desire of these people. We know many of them; they helped us fight ISIS in the most difficult period, during the past 10 years. This is the first point," said Shoigu, reported Kremlin.

Secondly, he also suggested turning the air defence systems such as man-portable SAMs, and anti-tank missile systems over to the Lugansk and Donetsk people's republics to build up the combat ability of their militia.

"We have seized a large number of Ukrainian weapons, such as tanks, armoured vehicles, all types of small arms, and artillery systems. There are also many Javelins and Stingers. We suggest transferring them to the Lugansk and Donetsk militias as well so that they can defend their republics more effectively," he added.

Thirdly, he talked about the 'serious issue' of the west that is beefing up its forces near Russia's western borders.

"New units are arriving every day, and they are deploying them at a time when absolutely nothing threatens them. Nevertheless, we believe that they want to take advantage of this situation and to saturate the area along the border with forces and resources to the maximum extent, and they will undoubtedly want to preserve this situation for a long time," he noted during the meeting, reported Kremlin.

Taking part in the meeting were Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Deputy Chair of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino, Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin, and Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergei Ivanov.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions, Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics followed by the announcement of a "special military operation" to "demilitarize" and "denazify" Ukraine. (ANI)