On January 21, the Russian State Duma Speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, announced the consultations with the heads of factions next week on the draft appeal to the Russian President on the recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) submitted by deputies from the Communist Party.
And yesterday, on February 15, Volodin announced that the Russian parliament will send a formal address to the country’s President, Vladimir Putin, calling for the urgent recognition of the republics in Donbass. This came possible as the lower house of the Russian Parliament on Tuesday, February 15, voted in favour of sending a resolution on the recognition of the Donbass republics.
“Lawmakers believe that the recognition of DPR and LPR will create the grounds for ensuring security guarantees and protecting the population of the republics from external threats, as well as strengthening international peace and regional stability in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and will initiate the process of international recognition of both states,” Volodin said.
He also stressed that Kiev disregards the Minsk agreements, saying that Russians living in Donbass require help and support.
Donbass people suffer from Ukraine’s aggression
The resolution, supported by Russian lawmakers, comes amid an escalation of tensions around Ukraine. Using the alleged “Russian invasion” as a pretext for supplying Ukraine with weaponry, the Western countries, according to the Russian officials, create a threat to Russia, as a massive military build-up is being carried out by the country’s borders.
As reminded, DPR and LPR proclaimed their independence back in 2014 after a coup d’etat occurred in Kiev. In response, Ukrainian authorities launched a military invasion to try to crush the republics. The war has claimed the lives of at least 31,000 people, while over 2.5 million civilians were either internally or externally displaced. Hundreds of thousands of them took refuge in Russia and were granted citizenship.
The situation on the line of contact in Donbass reportedly remains tense, and the republics’ intelligence continues to receive information about the Ukraine’s preparations for the beginning of hostilities.
Russia tries to influence Kiev in support of Donbass
That was why Moscow warned that it would not tolerate any provocations by Kiev in Donbass, or any attacks against Russian citizens living there.
Moreover, Moscow will be insisting on NATO publicly announcing its refusal to accept Ukraine into the bloc, the head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, Konstantin Gavrilov, has stated. Kiev will also have to return to respecting the pledge it made in 1990, the diplomat said.
“Kiev, in turn, must proclaim its neutral, non-bloc status, which was included in the provisions of the Declaration on State Sovereignty of Ukraine of 16 July 1990”, Gavrilov said during an OSCE forum on security.
As for the republics’ recognition, Putin noted that lawmakers are “guided by the public opinion,” as the vast majority of Russians “feel sympathy for Donbass residents.” However, he added, the capabilities of the Minsk Agreements have not been exhausted despite Ukraine’s refusal to observe them.
Russian President once more stressed that Russia “does not want any war and this is why it submitted its proposals on security guarantees in Europe” hoping that their key points will be taken into account.
European leaders threat Russia with “international law violation”
However, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has already warned Russia that the recognition of Donetsk’s and Lugansk’s independence “would be a political catastrophe,” TASS reports. To such claims joined French president, Emmanuel Macron, who addressed an appeal to Putin to abandon the idea of recognizing the republics, according to Izvestia.
“We […] ask [Putin] not to comply with the Duma’s request,” CNN quoted a representative of the presidential administration as saying.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, first of all, it is necessary to deal with the laws adopted in Ukraine, as well as statements made by Ukrainian officials, including that the Minsk agreements are irrelevant, require reconfiguration or their implementation is impossible.
Her statements come as a response to threats of the European leaders that DPR/LPR recognition could be a violation of international law. Though nobody asks Ukraine how it is possible its government considers the law on the “forceful” return of Crimea and both republics, including the military way. Does this comply with the international law – starting the war against people who freely expressed their will to be independent?
As you can see, for European leaders, “help” means only weaponry supply, as comes obviously from their statements and actions. When it comes to helping, the Western countries see support in sending arms and specialists to Ukraine as if it needs urgent assistance in combating the alleged “Russian troops’ invasion”.
But for some reason, none of the European leaders or in the USA thinks about Donbass people, not even they think about listening to those people and their wishes. Moreover, Russian intentions to support republics’ residents are taken sharply and opposed radically. And still somehow in the eyes of the Western people Russia remains a foe – why?
Ru-Main, 16.02.2022
Source: Sputnik
