MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has informed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron that he plans to sign a decree recognizing the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) in the near future, the Kremlin press service said after Putin’s telephone conversations with them.

The Russian president informed the German and French leaders about the results of today’s meeting of the Russian Security Council that focused on the current situation around Donbass in the context of the Russian lower parliament house’s resolution on the recognition of the Donbass republics.

Earlier in the day, the DPR and LPR leaders called for recognizing their republics’ sovereignty amid Ukraine’s aggression, intense shelling of the Donbass republics, killing and wounding civilian population.

"The Russian president said that he plans to sign a corresponding decree in the near future," the Kremlin said.

According to the Kremlin press service, Macron and Scholz said that they were disappointed with his plans to recognize the independence of the Donbass republics. "The French president and the German chancellor expressed disappointment over such developments," it said.

At the same time, Macron and Scholz "expressed their readiness to continue contacts," the Kremlin added.