Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognised the independence of the self-proclaimed state-like entities in Ukraine, violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, Putin made a televised address on Monday, February 21. «I believe it is necessary to take this long overdue decision. I immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic,» he said adding that the Russian Federal Assembly should back this decision and then ratify the treaties on friendship and mutual aid with both territories.
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The self-proclaimed heads of the territories, Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik, were also in Moscow and signed with Putin the treaties on friendship, cooperation and mutual aid between Russia and both territories, TASS reports.
Putin recognises independence of separatist-held territories in Ukraine
