Communist Party submits draft resolution to State Duma on raising issue of Russia recognizing Donetsk and Luhansk ‘people’s republics’

Russian lawmakers from the Communist Party (KPRF) have submitted to the State Duma for consideration a draft resolution that proposes sending a formal appeal to President Vladimir Putin “on the need to recognize the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic.”

In a draft of the proposed appeal, the Commnuist Party lawmakers emphasize Russia’s involvement in the “peaceful settlement” of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, as well as the country’s provision of “humanitarian aid” to the self-proclaimed republics since 2014. The authors of the draft appeal also claim that in recent years, “democratic bodies and governments with all the attributes of legitimate power have been built” in these breakaway regions.

The draft appeal goes on to urge Putin to “consider the issue of recognition by the Russian Federation of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic as autonomous, sovereign, and independent states.”

The KPRF lawmakers argue that recognizing the self-proclaimed “republics” is “reasonable and morally justified,” claiming that it will create grounds for ensuring security guarantees and protecting local populations from external threats.

Speaking to Interfax, one of the authors of draft appeal, the head of the State Duma Committee for CIS affairs Leonid Kalashnikov, said that in submitting this draft resolution, the Communist Party was fulfilling one of its election promises.