President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said his decision to invade the neighbouring Ukraine was born out of necessity. 

“What’s happening is by necessity. They could have created such risks for us that it wasn’t clear how the country (Russia) could have continued to exist,” Mr Putin says at the meeting of Russian Oligarchs on Thursday as transcribed by Max Seddon of the Financial Times.

As the crisis escalates, Mr Putin emphasises on what he calls “Russia’s security concerns,” which includes the establishment of NATO bases in Russia’s former territories.

The United States has since said that the decision to join NATO rests on the alliance and the prospective countries, dismissing Russia’s concerns. Dozens of Ukrainian military officers have been killed overnight; while three Russian helicopters were shut down by Ukrainian forces.

Russia recognised Ukraine’s separatist regions, Lugansk and Donetsk, as independent republics on Monday, after close to a decade of military conflict and violation of ceasefire agreements between the breakaway republics and their mother country, Ukraine. 

By Thursday morning, Mr Putin ordered a larger contingent of military assets into Ukraine, all but confirming initial fears that he was aiming to occupy Ukraine rather than preserve the interest of Russian speaking territories. 

The U.S. and other NATO allies have continued to mount pressure on Mr Putin to back off his invasion. Several sanctions have been targeted at Russian oligarchs and state interests throughout the week, with threats of even more devastating sanctions emerging rapidly. On Thursday evening, the European Union reportedly mulled cutting Russia off the SWIFT system, the world’s prominent financial transactions settling platform.
 
Mr Putin, however, vowed not to back down his move, which China had slammed as reminiscent of the Cold War, telling the oligarchs during today’s meeting to see Russia’s existence as a priority.