European equities dropped sharply on Monday after Russian president Vladimir Putin convened his top security advisers to discuss recognising two Moscow-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, a step that would greatly escalate the crisis in the country.
The regional Stoxx Europe 600 share gauge fell as much as 1.9 per cent in the early afternoon and closed the session 1.3 per cent lower.
The meeting of the national security council came as Russia claimed on Monday that it had destroyed two Ukrainian military vehicles that strayed into its territory, killing five people. The unconfirmed incident would be the first direct clash with Ukrainian forces since Moscow mobilised 190,000 troops on its border.
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