MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. The Russian State Duma may consider a draft statement on Thursday in connection with Ukraine adopting the law on the reintegration of Donbass, in which the deputies warn of the threat of disrupting the peace process and the implementation of the Minsk agreements, and call upon the world community to condemn this "repressive act." The document has not yet been officially included in the agenda, but it is possible that it can be introduced "with a vote," First Vice Chairman of the State Duma Ivan Melnikov told reporters.
"We can review the draft statement on February 22, or maybe later. The draft can be submitted with a vote," he said after a meeting of the State Duma Council.
The draft resolution noted that the law on the reintegration of Donbass is directly directed against Russia and Russians in Ukraine. The lawmakers pointed out that the Verkhovna Rada, in the process of discussing and adopting the law, "left no doubt that its objectives are the disruption of the internationally recognized Minsk agreements on the settlement of the conflict in the southeast of Ukraine and the rejection of the obligations undertaken under these agreements by the Ukrainian side." In this context, the State Duma intends to declare the need to provide assistance to the population of the southeast of Ukraine.
Deputies also intend to draw the attention of the UN, OSCE, PACE, the US Congress, the European Parliament and parliaments of individual European states, including the guarantor states of the Minsk agreements, "to the need to condemn the repressive act of the Ukrainian authorities."
On January 18, the Verkhovna Rada voted in favor id the draft law "On the peculiarities of state policy to ensure Ukraine's sovereignty over the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions". In the law, Russia is called an aggressor state, regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblast that are not controlled by Kiev - temporarily occupied territories, and Ukrainian President is given the right to use armed forces inside the country without the parliament’s consent, including for the purpose of "liberating the territories" in the east of the country.