Federation Council of Russia ratifies treaties of friendship and cooperation with DPR and LPR – Russian Politics and Diplomacy
MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. In a special session on Tuesday, the Federation Council unanimously ratified the agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, which were submitted by the Russian president Vladimir Putin, who said Monday that they should be recognized as independent.
The senators greeted the results of the vote with applause.
The treaties are signed by Putin and the heads of the republics: Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik. According to the agreements, which are identical, “the parties will build their relations as friendly States, being constantly guided by the principles of mutual respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity and the peaceful resolution of any disagreement” and based on the principles of equality and non-interference.
The treaties cover the economy, including the use of the Russian rouble, border defense and protection, the rights of ethnic minorities, etc. They will enter into force as soon as they are officially published.
The agreements will have a duration of 10 years and will be regularly extended automatically for another five years. According to the documents, the borders of the DPR and the LPR “will be jointly protected by the agreeing parties on the basis of the interests of their security, peace and stability”.
Separate agreements will be made for this matter. In addition, the agreements stipulate that each party will give the other the right to build and use military bases on its respective territory. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said earlier that the agreements also contemplate mutual military assistance.
The treaties also aim to protect the ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious identity of minorities. Citizens of the DPR and the LPR will be able to have Russian passports in accordance with the current legislation. The parties will sign additional agreements that will regulate dual nationality.
The treaties establish that each party will recognize documents issued by state authorities and local self-government bodies of the other party.
According to the agreements, Russia will take measures to maintain the financial and banking systems of the DPR and the LPR, based on the fact that the legal tender in their territory is the Russian ruble.
In addition, according to the documents, the parties to the agreements undertake to “provide favorable economic, financial and legal conditions for entrepreneurial and other economic activities, including the encouragement and mutual protection of investments”, as well as to encourage various forms of cooperation and direct links between the citizens of the parties. It is also envisaged to unify the civil and fiscal legislation of the parties and the legislation on retirement pensions.
