DONETSK, February 23. /TASS/. The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has long been ready for a dialogue with Kiev, but there is no one to talk to yet, Head of the Donetsk People's Republic Denis Pushilin said on Wednesday.
"As for a peaceful settlement, we need a dialogue," he said adding, "There is simply no one to talk to."
At the same time, Pushilin stressed that the dialogue should be based on the new realities. "The Minsk agreements are already in the past, and now we are guided by the current situation - as a recognized state. In order to have the possibility of a peaceful settlement, we just have to start with dialogue," he said.
Tensions escalated along the line of contact in eastern Ukraine on the morning of February 17. The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR) reported the heaviest shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in months. On February 18, the republics announced the evacuation of their residents to Russia.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees at the ceremony in the Kremlin on recognizing the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Putin met with DPR and LPR leaders, Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik, and signed with them the treaties on friendship, cooperation, and mutual aid between Russia and both republics.