Ukrainian Minister of Defense allowed Russia to recognize the DPR and LPR

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy ReznikovKIEV, Feb 17Defense Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov believes that Russia can recognize the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. The State Duma of the Russian Federation on Tuesday voted for an appeal to the President of the Russian Federation on the need to recognize the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR. The heads of the DPR and LPR Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik said they welcomed the decision of the State Duma deputies. Russian leader Vladimir Putin, during a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow, commented on the appeal of the State Duma, saying that he would proceed from doing everything to solve the problems of Donbass, but the potential of the Minsk agreements had not yet been exhausted.Lukashenka did not rule out the possibility of recognizing the DPR and LPR»Yes, it is absolutely possible (recognition — ed.). This will be blackmailed and flaunted. I anticipated this scenario last time a month ago. Now the head of the Kremlin will play: I admit — I do not recognize,» Reznikov said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine in response to a question about the possibility of Russia recognizing the republics of Donbass. He believes that in this way the Russian Federation will violate the Minsk agreements, while Ukraine is ready to comply with them. «We are ready to execute Minsk, since there is no other political and diplomatic platform today, but it is not ideal, so the entire Minsk cannot be executed now,» the minister said.The Kremlin agrees that the recognition of the LPR and the DPR does not correlate with «Minsk-2» Reznikov also added that Ukraine is allegedly being persuaded to comply with the Minsk agreements. «We are being persuaded to execute Minsk according to the Kremlin's scenario, from the moment these agreements are signed. But this does not mean that we are inclined or are going to do it,» the minister said. Moscow has repeatedly stated that Kiev does not comply with the Minsk agreements and drags out negotiations on conflict resolution. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that Kiev sent half of the entire personnel of the armed forces of Ukraine to the Donbass. Moscow expressed concern about the transfer of military equipment from NATO countries to the Russian borders and the increase in the number of Western instructors in the Donbass. Western countries continue to provide military support to Ukraine, including by supplying weapons that are used in the Donbass.