Kremlin Says Recognition of Donbas Not in Line With Minsk Agreements

 

Russia's State Duma asked Putin to recognize the breakaway republics in eastern Ukraine

by Dave DeCamp 

Posted onFebruary 16, 2022CategoriesNewsTagsRussia, Ukraine

The Kremlin said Wednesday that Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas, known as Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), would not be in line with the Minsk agreements.

Russia’s State Duma passed a resolution Tuesday asking Putin to recognize the DPR and LPR. “The president has received the request, he reacted to it, he took it into account,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that “the recognition is not in line with the Minsk agreements.”

Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reaffirmed Moscow’s commitment to the Minsk agreements. “The Minsk agreements are the sole basis for settling the conflict in Donbas, which has no alternative,” she said.

The Minsk agreements were signed in 2014 and 2015 and established the ceasefire in the Donbas war, which is monitored by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The Russian statements signal that as long as Moscow is committed to the Minsk agreements, Putin won’t recognize the DPR and LPR. Under the accords, Ukraine agreed to cede autonomy to the breakaway republics, but that still hasn’t happened.

Amid the current tensions, Ukrainian officials have said Kyiv shouldn’t be forced to implement the Minsk agreements. Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said giving autonomy to the separatists could “destroy” Ukraine due to the domestic opposition to the move.

https://news.antiwar.com/2022/02/16/kremlin-says-recognition-of-donbas-not-in-line-with-minsk-agreements/