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In a special detailed statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry recalls that the request for recognition was submitted by the leadership and residents of the two republics, as well as by the deputies of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) in an official message to the President of the country.
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"This decision by the President of Russia was dictated primarily by humanitarian reasons, the desire to protect the civilian population of Donetsk and Lugansk DR, including hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens, from the real threat to their lives and safety[/B] posed by the current Ukrainian regime, which is not giving up its attempts to resolve the 'Donbass problem' by force" (p.The Russian Foreign Ministry noted in its statement that the Russian authorities are not trying to resolve the "Donbass problem" (i.e. the Donets river basin, a tributary of the Don river).
Russian diplomacy recalls that eight years ago after a "bloody unconstitutional coup in Kiev", power was seized in Ukraine "with active support from the West by nationalists with extremist tendencies, who began to impose their own rules on the country, to persecute the Russian language and dissent, to impose a foreign ideology, to honour the collaborators of the fascists, to rewrite history, to turn the territory of Ukraine into an anti-Russian NATO bridgehead". "The residents of Donbass," the communiqué notes, "did not agree with this policy and began to defend their legitimate rights and interests. On the basis of the results of the Referenda of 11 May 2014, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics were declared."
"Instead of seeking to achieve the consent of its fellow citizens by political methods, Kiev has launched against them a military punitive operation and, in essence, a civil war. From the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, Russia has made persistent efforts to settle it by peaceful, diplomatic means. Unfortunately, the Kiev authorities have twice attempted without success to forcibly restore Donetsk and Lugansk to the composition of Ukraine. With the active cooperation of Russia and other international mediators it was achieved to stop the bloodshed" and the "Package of measures for the observance of the Minsk agreements on February 12, 2015" was agreed upon, which was unanimously adopted by UNSC Resolution 2202, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, which considers that "this document gave the possibility of a political solution to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine and the return of Donbass to its composition", however Kiev "was not ready to implement it, openly stating that the agreements reached in Minsk are non-existent and that it does not wish to implement them".
"The bellicose rhetoric of Ukrainian officials, who publicly denied direct dialogue with Donbass and expressed their intention to resolve the crisis by military means, was constantly echoed. In fact, Kiev has already long ago withdrawn from the Minsk agreements, directly sabotaging their implementation," the Russian Foreign Ministry notes, stressing that "over the years, the residents of Donetsk and Lugansk DR have been living under constant cannon and mortar bombardment. Thousands of absolutely innocent people, including children, while tens of thousands were wounded. A complete blockade of transport and the economy was imposed on Donbass, and pension and welfare payments to its inhabitants were stopped. Such actions are nothing less than genocide of his own people."
"Lately we have seen a sharp escalation of the situation along the entire dividing line. Numerous incidents of ceasefire violations are again being recorded, shells are destroying civilian civilian homes, schools and other infrastructure of the urban fabric. The population of the Republics faces the threat of imminent physical annihilation by the Kiev government. It has become absolutely clear that for Kiev, Donbass is a territory and not the people who live on it," the Russian communiqué notes, concluding."
"Recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics is a necessary and only possible option under the circumstances. It is called to be a guarantee for the inhabitants of the DRs of their right to peaceful life, to defend their legitimate rights and interests. The decision was taken taking into account the free expression of the will of the inhabitants of Donbas, based on the provisions of the UN Charter, the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning friendly relations between states, the OSCE Final Act, other fundamental international documents. Russia calls on other states to follow its example."
Source: CNA
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