Putin discusses military operation in Ukraine with Russian security council

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Moscow's military operation in Ukraine with his security council on Friday, RIA news agency cited the Kremlin as saying.

Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it called a special operation to degrade its neighbour's military capabilities and root out people it called dangerous nationalists.

Ukrainian forces have mounted stiff resistance and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces.