The State Duma will send Vladimir Putin an appeal on the need to recognize the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR, the draft document was supported by the majority of deputies today. There are statements in NATO about “another blatant violation of the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine”, in the Verkhovna Rada they organize urgent consultations, and in Moscow, meanwhile, they argue whether the standard of living of Russians will decrease if Lugansk and Donetsk gain independence. Deputy from the Communist Party faction Kazbek Taysaev is sure that the people of Russia agree to lower living standards due to the sanctions that the West may impose due to the recognition of the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DNR and LNR). The representative of the New People party, Anton Tkachev, in turn, doubted that the Russians were ready to “give up their salaries and part of the refrigerator.”

“The people of Russia fully support our resolution and are ready to refuse not only the 13th salary,” Taisaev said at a meeting of the State Duma.

The deputy head of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR), Alexander Shershukov, in an interview with urged Taisaev to “start with himself” and “abandon the Duma salary”, as well as “conduct a sociological study on such readiness” of his voters.

“This is a kind of fantasy of a particular deputy, as it seems to me. That is, in this case, I express my personal point of view. And in this sense, I think it would be more correct for him to start with himself and refuse the Duma salary, and see what happens. He is probably able to refuse this wage, because he probably has other sources of income. The vast majority of Russian workers do not have such sources of income. It would make sense for him to conduct a sociological study, at least at the level of his voters, about such readiness,” Shershukov noted.

He recalled that the Russians have already made a sacrifice for the sake of the DPR and LPR, since the Russian side provides assistance to the republics from taxpayers' money. “During the Great Patriotic War, working people did not receive part of their wages, but received it in the form of internal loan bonds. That is, in this way, these payments were de facto postponed for a certain perspective period. And in fact, on their part, it was a certain sacrifice that they made during the war. First, I would like to say that there is no war now. Secondly, the assistance that the Russian Federation provides to these republics is absolutely correct, it comes, among other things, at the expense of taxpayers' money. And this is already the sacrifice that the Russian workers made quite consciously, ”Shershukov summed up.

The first deputy chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy Nikolai Arefiev, at the same time, believes that nothing will have to be sacrificed because of the recognition of the DPR and LPR. “I don’t know where he got that mood from our people. On the other hand, I think that the recognition of these two republics does not bear any expenditure obligations for the Russian Federation.

We recognized Abkhazia, South Ossetia. We do not pay them any money, we do not take the 13th salary. They live on their own, and we are on our own, ”he commented on Taysaev’s statement in an interview with .

“We recognize them simply as subjects of international law and nothing more. The fact that we helped them and are helping them - we have an international agreement, this is not gratuitous assistance. I think that the recognition of the LPR and the DPR will not impose any spending obligations on our country and no one will have to give up anything, ”concluded Arefiev.

The head of the Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs Yaroslav Nilov (LDPR faction) also expressed confidence that the recognition of Donbass would not affect the well-being of Russian citizens. “Our president is responsible for foreign policy. And I think that his wise policy, based on all the information that is known to him, his closest circle, will allow, with the participation of the Foreign Ministry, the Security Council [of the Russian Federation], to work out, as always, a thoughtful and balanced decision. And these fears will remain only fears,” he said.

The deputies are discussing "issues of the Russian world, issues of a geopolitical, strategic nature, security, and so on," Nilov said. “But this should in no way concern the absolute majority of our citizens, millions of whom already live below the poverty line. When I hear such things, I immediately remember a quote from [LDPR leader Vladimir] Zhirinovsky, who repeatedly stressed that an empty stomach will always outweigh any ideology,” the deputy added.Artem Turov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, believes that Russia “should take a fresh look at everything that happens in the Donbass.” “Kyiv has not fulfilled a single point on the peaceful settlement of the situation in the Donbass. Civilians and children are dying. Infrastructure is being destroyed. A strike group has been created, which has from 100 to 150 thousand armed forces and national battalions, which are armed with the help of a number of countries of the North Atlantic Alliance and are ready to move to the state that was stopped in 2014.

The situation is serious and could lead to tragedy. We are doing everything possible to protect our compatriots and citizens living outside the Russian Federation,” he stated.

"United Russia", according to him, shares all the existing fears in relation to Donetsk and Lugansk. Russia is doing "everything possible from a diplomatic point of view" to implement the Minsk agreements, but Kiev continues to escalate the situation, Turov stressed.

The head of the Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, also supported the appeal of the State Duma on the recognition of the DPR and LPR. “Our fellow citizens and compatriots live in the Donbass, who consider Russia their homeland. The people of Donbass expressed their will back in 2014, they defended their right to be part of the Russian world, to be themselves with weapons in their hands, ”he wrote on Facebook.

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Appeal to Putin

On Tuesday, February 15, the deputies approved the draft appeal of the lower chamber to President Vladimir Putin on the need to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics "as independent, sovereign and independent states." 351 deputies voted in favor, 16 voted against, and one abstained. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin promised to immediately send the resolution to the head of state.

The Kremlin previously noted that so far there are no official discussions about the possible recognition of the DPR and LPR. There is no clear position on the conditions under which Moscow could recognize the republics yet, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov pointed out.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow's recognition of the independence of the DPR and LPR would de facto and de jure mean Russia's withdrawal from the Minsk agreements. Kiev is going to initiate the convening of the OSCE Permanent Council because of the "actions of Russia." -

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg pointed out that Russia's recognition of the DPR and LPR would be a "flagrant" violation of the Minsk agreements of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. “Such recognition would also be a violation of international norms. In addition, it will be a violation of the Minsk agreements, ”he stressed at a press conference on the eve of a meeting of the defense ministers of the alliance countries in Brussels.

Deputies of the Rada are preparing to hold urgent consultations due to the appeal of the State Duma on Donbass. The faction of the Opposition Platform - For Life party believes that the decision of the Russian parliamentarians will seriously complicate the situation on the border, which already remains "extremely difficult." Ukrainian parliamentarians called for sanctions against State Duma deputies.

bbabo.Net