VLADIVOSTOK, September 7. /TASS/. Moscow is providing aid to the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) in full compliance with the UN Charter, Russian President Vladimir Putin said when answering questions at a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on Wednesday.
"We are doing this (providing aid - TASS). Does this comply with the UN Charter? It does. There is Article 51 of the UN Charter which mentions self-defense. And we, as a party to this agreement, are obligated under this clause, under this UN Charter article, to provide aid to our allies. This is just what we are doing. Here is a simple sequence and logic in full compliance with international law," Putin stressed.
Putin cited the simple sequence related to international law and the justification of Russia’s actions in defending the LPR and DPR. He reiterated that the UN Charter talks about a nation’s right to self-determination: during the Kosovo crisis, the International Court of Justice made a decision according to which, if a part of some territories wants to declare its independence, it does not have to ask permission from its country’s central government. "This is applicable to Kosovo. So it applies to the DPR and LPR - isn't it the same? Yes, it’s all the same. And if they have the right to this, and they do have it in accordance with the UN Charter and a nation’s right to self-determination, they - by implementing this right - declared their independence. Do they have this right from the standpoint of international law and the UN Charter? They do. And this right is confirmed by the relevant decision of the UN Court in application to Kosovo," the head of state explained.
"If we recognize them, can we conclude an international agreement on friendship, cooperation and mutual aid? Of course, we can. We signed this agreement, it was ratified by the Russian parliament and their parliaments, and there are certain obligations for the Russian side - to provide them with aid, even in the event of aggression. In this case, aggression by the Kiev regime which is essentially illegitimate because it was founded on a coup d’etat as its original source of power in Ukraine nowadays," the Russian leader continued.
"Why wasn’t this scheme employed in Iraq? They went in and crushed it, shattered the country and that’s all. The same with Libya. Where is this international law?" Putin asked. According to the Russian president, everyone engaged in such aggression realizes that this does not comply with international law so they talk about some contrived rules. "Which rules, what did they make up? Where did they pluck out these rules from? They themselves should live according to them then," the Russian leader concluded.