Ukraine crisis: Putin says Russian security ‘non-negotiable’ amid fears war is imminent

Vladimir Putin has praised the battle-readiness of his armed forces and boasted of Russia’s ‘advanced weapons’ in a sabre-rattling speech after Joe Biden warned he is making final preparations for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian president, speaking on Defender of the Fatherland Day which marks the first mass draft into the Red Army in 1918, congratulated the armed forces on their ‘professionalism’ and said he was assured they would stand up for the country’s national interests – which he said are ‘non-negotiable’.  

Putin, as he has done throughout the crisis, insisted that diplomacy with the West is still possible but gave no hint that he is willing to back down over any of his security demands – including that Ukraine disarm and drop its bid to join NATO. These have…