In view of the tensions in eastern Ukraine, the upper house of the Russian parliament has approved a deployment of troops.
The Federation Council voted unanimously on Tuesday evening in favor of a corresponding order from President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin boss determines the number of soldiers and the duration of the stationing "abroad," it said.
Earlier, Putin addressed the Federation Council with a request to discuss “the deployment of Russian armed forces outside the territory of the Russian Federation,” as Chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko said.
With a view to the "People's Republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk, now recognized by Moscow, Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov said during the meeting: "We have to protect the citizens of these young states." He also accused Ukraine of sending around 60,000 soldiers to the contact line to have moved together in the separatist areas.
Putin is planning an invasion of Ukraine for the second time since 2014.
The West accuses him of violating international law.
According to Western sources, Russia has gathered about 150,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine.
At noon, the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, ratified the recognition of the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent states.
Deputies unanimously supported the “friendship and assistance” treaties with the pro-Russian separatist areas.
Putin signed the law in the evening.
On Monday evening, the head of state issued a decree ordering the deployment of Russian soldiers to the areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
To the dismay of many western states, he also recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent “people's republics”.
On Tuesday afternoon, the federal government announced that it would initially stop the approval process for the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said on Tuesday in Berlin.
Specifically, the government is withdrawing a report to the Federal Network Agency.
Scholz said he had asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs to withdraw the existing report on the analysis of security of supply at the Federal Network Agency.
Without this certification, Nord Stream 2 cannot go into operation, emphasized Scholz.
According to British information, the seven most influential Western industrialized countries have agreed on a package of tough sanctions.
"G7 foreign ministers strongly condemn Russia's violation of international agreements," British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss wrote on Twitter.
In response, coordinated punitive measures were agreed with increasing severity.