On February 18, at a meeting in Brussels, NATO defense ministers discussed the initiative of the State Duma to recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. This was stated by the secretary general of the alliance Jens Stoltenberg, Interfax reports.
“We all agree that this would be another blatant violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, as well as the Minsk agreements, undermining efforts to find a political solution within the Normandy format,” the Secretary General stressed at a press conference following the meeting.
Earlier, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that if the independence of the Donbass republics is recognized, Russia will violate the Minsk agreements, while Ukraine is ready to comply with them.
On February 15, State Duma deputies supported a draft resolution developed by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation on an appeal to President Vladimir Putin with a request to recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. 351 members of the State Duma voted for its adoption, 16 people opposed, and one more abstained.
bbabo.Net