Russia’s State Duma ratifies friendship agreements with pseudo-republics “DPR”, “LPR”

The State Duma of the Russian Federation ratified the agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with the pseudo-republics "DPR" and "LPR".

As Ukrinform reports with reference to the State Duma website, the lower house of the Russian parliament adopted an amendment to enact the agreements from the moment of publication.

These agreements were submitted to the State Duma by Russian president Vladimir Putin after signing the decrees to recognize the self-proclaimed "DPR" and "LPR."

"This agreement is concluded for a period of 10 years. It will be extended automatically for the next five years, unless either party declares in writing that it wishes to terminate it no later than six months before the end of the next period," reads an article in Russia's agreement with "DPR". The agreement with "LPR" contains a similar article.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation stated it recognized the "republics" of certain areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions within the limits in which their "authorities" exercises their powers and jurisdiction.

"The limits within which the leadership of 'DPR' and 'LPR' exercise their powers and jurisdiction," said Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko, when asked about the extent to which these puppet entities are recognized by Russia, Interfax reports.

For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia recognized the "republics" within the limits "in which they proclaimed themselves."

As reported, on February 21, the president of the Russian Federation signed decrees to "recognize" two self-proclaimed entities in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.

At the same time, Putin accused Kyiv of escalating the situation in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, saying that Russia had done everything it could to preserve Ukraine's territorial integrity. Putin ended his speech with a threat to Ukraine, which is allegedly acting aggressively in Donbas.