MOSCOW, October 4. /TASS/. Amending the Russian Constitution through President Vladimir Putin’s decree will be the final step in the process of accepting the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR), as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, into Russia, Chairman of the Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building Andrey Klishas said.
"In accordance with our domestic legislation, the constitutional and legal procedure to accept [new regions] will be completed with the inclusion of these entities in Article 65 of the Constitution, which is within the president’s constitutional powers," he said at a committee meeting on Tuesday.
Klishas explained that once the Federation Council approved the federal constitutional laws, they would be sent to the president for signing. After that, the laws will have to be officially published and then, based on the Russian Constitutional Court’s decision, the Russian president will be able to issue a decree to make the necessary amendments to Article 65 of the Constitution. Klishas specified that the presidential decree would add four new entities - two republics and two regions - to the list of Russia’s constituent entities contained in Article 65.
The Federation Council will discuss laws on the ratification of international agreements and federal constitution laws on accepting the DPR and the LPR, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, into Russia. The documents were submitted to the State Duma (the lower house of parliament) on October 2 and were passed on Monday. The Russian Constitutional Court had earlier approved the documents. Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, signed treaties on their accession to Russia at a Kremlin ceremony on September 30. The majority of their residents earlier voted to join Russia in referendums.