MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. The only way to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, end the war in Donbass and establish peace there, is to ratify Russia's treaties on friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance with the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), Russia's State Duma (the lower house of parliament) Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said after lawmakers passed the decision.
"Deciding to ratify the treaties is the only way to protect people, stop a fratricidal war, prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, and bring peace," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
At a Tuesday session, the State Duma unanimously ratified the treaties on friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance with the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, whose sovereignty was acknowledged by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. In doing so, the legislators amended the laws on ratification, according to which the treaties will come into force as soon as they are published.
Volodin added that what lies at the root of the Donbass problem is the Ukrainian coup that unfolded eight years ago. "The two presidents (Poroshenko and Zelensky) had opportunities and time to implement the Minsk accords. But this was not done. They thought more about clinging to personal power than about the citizens of their country," the speaker maintained. According to him, in the years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia "did a lot to help Ukraine become a sovereign state. It paid the Soviet Union’s debts, supplied energy resources at reduced prices and much more."
President Putin and the heads of the republics, Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik signed treaties Monday. The texts of the documents which are identical state, "the parties will build their relations as friendly states, consistently guided by the principles of mutual respect for state sovereignty and territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes," as well as on the principles of equality and non-interference. The treaties cover the areas of the economy, including the use of the Russian ruble, defense and border protection, and among other things the protection of the rights of ethnic minorities.