Ukraine crisis: Russian MPs to vote on recognising separatist-held areas in east as independent

euronews.com:

Russian lawmakers will on Tuesday vote on resolutions to demand President Vladimir Putin recognise two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.

Viacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Duma lower house, said in a statement that two resolutions will be submitted to votes with the aim of recognising the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) as independent.

Both are located in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.

The difference between the two resolutions is that the first one would appeal directly to Putin to "immediately" recognise the two areas as independent, while the second would be sent to Russia's foreign ministry and other governmental structures "for study and feedback".

"The option that receives the largest number of votes during the rating will be adopted," Volodin said.

Such recognition would effectively sound the death knell of the Minsk Protocol — a ceasefire agreement mediated by France and Germany in the so-called Normandy Format and that came into force in 2015.

It would also represent another escalation in the crisis at the Ukrainian border where Russia has stationed more than 100,000 troops, stoking fears of an invasion. Moscow has denied any plans to invade but demanded guarantees NATO will not expand to any other former Soviet nations, including Ukraine, and remove troops and weapons deployed in other eastern European nations.

It argues these are a threat to its security and violates former treaties.

It is unclear however whether Putin would follow through if the first resolution is passed as he mentioned the Minsk Agreement in his call with his French counterpart, Emmanuel