BERLIN, February 24. /TASS/. Leaders of G7 countries have strongly condemned the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognize the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic and to deploy Russian forces to these regions, a joint statement said on Thursday.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms Russian President Putin’s decision on February 21 to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk self-declared entities in eastern Ukraine as "independent" states as well as his decision to send Russian military forces into these regions," the statement reads.

The G7 leaders have called on other states not to recognize the independence of the DPR and LPR.

"The decision by President Putin is a grave violation of the basic principles enshrined in the UN Charter, in particular the respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states and also a blatant breach of UN Security Council resolution 2202 - supported by the Russian Federation as a permanent member of the Security Council - as well as of the Minsk agreements, which stipulate the return of the areas concerned to the control of the Ukrainian Government," the G7 leaders said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Thursday morning that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.

When clarifying the developments unfolding, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.