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No evidence yet Kiev gives up idea of offensive in Donbass — Donetsk leader

Denis Pushilin stressed he has no evidence that Kiev has changed its mind and decided against dealing with the conflict from the position of strength

Leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin Alexei Nikolsky/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

Leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin

© Alexei Nikolsky/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. The leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, has said that he has no evidence at his disposal Kiev has given up the intention to launch an offensive in Donbass.

"I have no evidence that Kiev has changed its mind and decided against dealing with the conflict from the position of strength," Pushilin said on the YouTube channel Solovyov Live.

He stressed that the treaty on cooperation with Moscow must have a special article on defense in the current conditions. Due attention must be paid not only to the events in the Lugansk and Donetsk people’s republics, but in also to other essentially Russian regions, Pushilin said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 21 declared the recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics as sovereign states. Treaties on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance were signed with their leaders. Putin instructed the Foreign Ministry to establish diplomatic relations with the DPR and LPR and asked the Defense Ministry to ensure peace in their territories.

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