President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine that, with the help of the issue of recognizing the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, Russia is raising the stakes in negotiations on Ukraine's non-accession to NATO.

“I think the stakes are going up. Russia puts forward conditions to its partners regarding Ukraine and NATO. And they are somehow negotiating with him, I hope, defending our interests,” Zelensky said.

He stressed that the recognition of the DPR and LPR would be a “unilateral withdrawal” from the Minsk agreements.

On February 15, State Duma deputies considered two draft appeals to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to recognize the republics of Donbass: one was prepared by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and the other by United Russia. Recognition of the DPR and LPR, the authors of the appeals believe, will help protect the population from external threats and stop "genocide against the inhabitants of the republics." The deputies also considered the recognition an opportunity to "launch the process of international recognition of both states."

bbabo.Net