There is no MInske Agreement Putin is willing to subscribe to. He has done this before in Georgia.

Russia (click here) recognized South Ossetia and Georgia's other breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states after Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in August 2008.

Georgia considers Abkhazia and South Ossetia are disputed territories and occupied by Russia. The only countries that recognize Abkazia and South Ossettia as independent from Georgia are Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria.

As to whether the two countries are okay. It all depends who one talks to. This takes place because of strong ethnic divisions in these countries.

February 21, 2022

By Yuliya Talmazan, Alexander Smith and Allan Smith

Russian President Vladimir Putin  (click here) on Monday formally recognized the independence of two Moscow-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine where Russia has been supporting armed separatists in an eight-year conflict.

The move by Putin was seen by the United States and its European allies as a dramatic provocation and possibly part of a pretext to invade Ukraine. The U.S. and European Union both swiftly announced sanctions.

Many experts believe that Moscow's formal recognition will effectively scuttle a previous ceasefire agreement that some Western allies hoped could provide a route out of the crisis.

In a wide-ranging televised speech Monday evening, Putin described Ukraine as a historical part of Russia that was illegitimately taken from Moscow and is now run by a “puppet regime” controlled by the U.S. and the West.

"Ukraine is not just a neighboring country, they are a part of our culture," he said....