UN chief tells Putin: Stop your troops from attacking Ukraine

Members of the UN Security Council pleaded with Russia to step back from the brink of war over Ukraine on Wednesday, even as Vladimir Putin announced he had decided on military action.

The appeals were led by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who made a direct, impassioned appeal to the Russian president at the start of the second emergency Security Council session in three days.

"President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine, give peace a chance, too many people have already died," Guterres said during the second emergency Security Council meeting in three days over the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Just minutes later, Putin made a surprise speech on Russian TV, announcing he had "made the decision of a military operation."

Although his announcement came just after the start of the Security Council session, the members who spoke stuck to their prepared speeches, which largely echoed Guterres' appeal.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield appealed to Putin to "back away from the brink."

"Send your troops and your tanks and your planes back to their barracks and hangars and send your diplomats to the negotiating table," she said.

Accusing Putin of being willing to sacrifice countless lives to his "cynical ambition," Thomas-Greenfield vowed that the international community would stand united against Russian aggression.

Warnings of a possible Russian invasion had mounted over weeks, as Moscow massed troops on Ukraine's borders and earlier this week recognized the independence of two breakaway eastern Ukraine regions.

Putin has defied a barrage of international criticism over the crisis, with some Western leaders saying he was no longer rational.

His announcement of military action came after the Kremlin said rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine had asked Moscow for military help against Kyiv, and ahead of a last-ditch summit involving European Union leaders in Brussels planned for Thursday. — Agence France-Presse