Russian legislators are planning to draft a resolution urging President Vladimir Putin to recognize the self-proclaimed Lugansk and Donetsk republics in Donbas, a breakaway region of Ukraine with a large ethnic Russian population and the scene of a violent upheaval since 2014.
The State Duma Council — Russia’s legislative lower house — will prepare two drafts of a resolution to be considered this week, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
The first draft was submitted by deputies from Russia’s Communist Party. The second was proposed by deputies from the United Russia Party, according to Interfax.
“Both documents will be presented for consideration at the Duma plenary meeting on Tuesday,” a Russian government source told the news agency.
The move to recognize the two separatist states, the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic, comes amid heightened tensions in Ukraine. Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops along its border over Kyiv’s desire to integrate into Western Europe and eventually became a member of the NATO alliance.
The U.S. has warned of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine as early as this week and has advised Americans there to leave the country. Washington has dispatched thousands of troops to the region to bolster nervous NATO allies like Poland and Romania.
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• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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