351 in favor, the State Duma adopted an appeal to the President of Russia on the recognition of the self-proclaimed «DNR» and «LNR». A draft submitted by deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation headed by Gennady Zyuganov was adopted (which we talked about in Novaya Gazeta on January 21).
Another draft was submitted by two United Russia deputies and involves consultations with the Foreign Ministry before sending a proposal to the president Russia, scored only 310 votes.
United Russia voted for both projects, the Communists, «Socialist-Revolutionaries» and the Liberal Democratic Party — only for the first, «New People» — only for the second. Although their essence, by and large, is the same.
The resolution of the State Duma of March 15, 1996, declaring the Belovezhskaya Accords null and void, remains in history only an anecdotal episode, which today is remembered only in connection with the Kukly program. And it did not have any political consequences — unlike the current one, which may have them.
The ball is now in the side of Vladimir Putin — the final decision is his.
But even if he refuses to support this decision, to continue to fulfill the traditional mantras for the Russian authorities about Ukraine's unwillingness to comply with the Minsk agreements will be much more difficult. Because now these agreements, if not completely disavowed, are seriously undermined.
Both in September 2014 (Minsk-1) and in February 2015 (Minsk-2) in the documents signed by the Trilateral Contact Group (Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini, Second President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, Ambassador Russian Federation in Ukraine M. Yu. Zurabov, as well as A. V. Zakharchenko and I. V. Plotnitsky without indicating their positions), Donetsk and Lugansk regions are recognized as the territory of Ukraine.
Recognizing them, as it is written in the appeal, «as independent, sovereign and independent states», means a rejection of the key provision of the Minsk agreements.
And even putting forward such a proposal — as an official appeal of the parliament to the president — causes a serious blow to the agreements.
Yes, it is quite possible that we are facing a two-move move: first, the parliament acts as an «evil investigator», and then the president as a «good» one. And he declares: yes, I share the assessments, I understand the feelings, but in order not to aggravate the situation, while this decision is premature. , in our country, the majority sympathizes with the residents of Donbass, I will proceed from the fact that we must do everything to solve the problems of Donbass, but this must first of all be done from the not fully realized opportunities for the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
