Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR). The head of the Russian state announced this during an address to citizens. Putin discussed this issue today at a meeting of the Security Council, where the heads of ministries and law enforcement agencies spoke in favor of recognizing the self-proclaimed republics.
“I consider it necessary to make a long overdue decision to immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic,” he said.
The President asked the Russian Federal Assembly to support this decision and then ratify the treaties of friendship and mutual assistance with both republics. In addition, the head of state demanded that Kiev immediately cease hostilities in the Donbass. Otherwise, all responsibility for the possible continuation of the bloodshed will be entirely on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine, the president emphasized.
During his speech, Putin said that now the situation in the Donbass has again “acquired a critical, acute character.” At the same time, Ukraine for Russia is an integral part of history, culture and spiritual space, the inhabitants of the countries have family and friendly ties, the head of state noted. Putin recalled that modern Ukraine was created by communist Russia.
However, now the country has been brought “to the level of a colony with a puppet regime,” Putin said. The West, according to him, supports the collapse of the Ukrainian economy, accompanied by “outright robbery” of the population. What the republic received from the USSR and the Russian Empire was “squandered and taken into pockets,” the president emphasized.
At a meeting of the Security Council, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said that the government of the country has been preparing for the consequences of recognizing the independence of the DPR and LPR for many months. The Communist Party submitted a draft appeal to the president on the need to recognize the self-proclaimed republics on January 19 of this year. On February 15, the State Duma adopted the draft appeal. According to parliamentarians, such a step will provide grounds for ensuring the security guarantees and protection of the population of the DPR and LPR from external threats, as well as initiate the process of recognizing these territories in the international arena.
After the Security Council meeting, Putin held talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. The head of state told his Western partners that he would soon sign a decree recognizing the DNR and LNR. At the same time, the Kremlin noted that Berlin and Paris “expressed their disappointment with this development.” In particular, Scholz said that such a decision by Moscow “would sharply contradict the Minsk agreements”, it would be perceived as a unilateral break by Moscow of these agreements.
Earlier today, the heads of the DPR and LPR Denis Pushilin and LPR Leonid Pasechnik appealed to the President of Russia with a request to recognize the independence of the republics. The DPR also asked to consider the possibility of concluding an agreement on friendship and cooperation between the republic and Russia, including in the defense sphere.
The DPR and LPR declared their independence in the spring of 2014, when an armed conflict began in the territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, provoked by a violent seizure of power in Kiev. Later, the republics held referendums on independence from Ukraine. The United States, European countries and a number of other states did not recognize the results of the vote. Russia declared “respect” for the referendums, but also did not legally confirm the recognition of the DPR and LPR.