Russian Parliament Ratifies Putin’s Deal With Donbas

The Russian parliament has, as expected, approved the agreements that President Vladimir Putin has made with the two self-proclaimed republics in the eastern Ukraine region of Donbas.

The parliaments in the two republics, Donetsk and Luhansk, already agreed on Monday. Russia and the two republics pledge to cooperate on foreign policy and defence. Russia also promises assistance. It is possible that Russia will establish military bases there. Putin has sent a ‘peace force’ to the region.

Putin recognized the two states as independent because he believes they are threatened by, among other things, the Ukrainian armed forces and militias and by the government’s years of refusal to negotiate with the pro-Russian separatists there who broke away there in 2014. A civil war has been raging in the area ever since.

The area controlled by the leaders of the two republics covers approximately 40 percent of the Netherlands and is home to an estimated 3.7 million people. On Tuesday, the Kremlin said that it will not claim areas for Donetsk and Luhansk that are not now in separatist hands.