The Russian parliament yesterday was expected to ratify treaties with two separatist Ukrainian regions, a step that could pave the way to Moscow building military bases there, adopting a joint defense posture and tightening economic integration.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic as independent statelets on Monday, defying Western warnings that such a step would be illegal and kill peace negotiations.
With the US and its European allies poised to announce harsh new sanctions, Russia’s lower house of parliament began meeting to discuss the two 17-page draft friendship treaties with the breakaway republics and vote on them.
Putin submitted the treaties to parliament for ratification on Monday night.
Each party gives the other “the right for its armed forces to build, use and improve military infrastructure and military bases on its territory,” they say.
Once the documents are ratified, Russia, which has massed troops near Ukraine fueling fears of a looming war, could overtly send military forces into the regions.
An explanatory note attached to the documents says that they create a “legal basis” for the arrival of Russian military units in the people’s republics that it said were needed for “peacekeeping” activities.
In the event of a threat to their respective “sovereignty,” the treaty’s parties would immediately hold consultations “with the aim of ensuring joint defense, keeping the peace and mutual security,” the documents say.
In Moscow, many residents said they supported the move.
“We have to defend the country and drive American, pro-Western troops away from our borders, who have been trying to conquer Russia since the last century and probably throughout the centuries,” said a man who identified himself as Nikolay.
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