Russia's recognition of 'LPR/DPR' will be further violation of Ukraine's sovereignty - Stoltenberg

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this at a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday, February 15, ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers, answering questions from Ukrinform.

"On the question of Russian recognition of the so-called 'republics,' 'People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.' If that happens, that will be a plain violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty once again. Because there is no doubt that Donetsk and Luhansk is part of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. So such recognition will be a violation of international law, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. Not only that. It will also be a violation of the Minsk agreements. So it will make it even harder to find a political solution based on the Minsk agreements," Stoltenberg said.

He noted that NATO and he personally support efforts by France and Germany within the Normandy format to find a political solution to the conflict in Donbas. According to him, the recognition of the two said territories as some kind of "independent" entities will totally undermine these efforts and violate the Minsk agreements.

Russia's State Duma on Tuesday adopted an appeal to President Vladimir Putin proposing that he "immediately" recognize the independence of the so-called "LPR" and "DPR" in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Photo: President's Office