Rallying for Peace in Donbass, Putin Extends Outreach by Stephen Lendman
On the second anniversary of the Minsk II peace agreement, thousands of Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) residents rallied against Kiev’s aggression.
A moment of silence honoring regime victims proceeded a march and rally for conflict resolution.
Addressing the crowd, DPR deputy chairwoman Olga Makeeva said “(d)uring the Minsk talks the world has heard us, and they know the truth. They talk more and more that it’s Ukraine who’s guilty in deaths of innocent people…”
Since Washington’s February 2014 coup, Russia was falsely accused of “aggression” in Ukraine, committed by Kiev forces, escalated in late January. Trump said nothing to condemn it.
On Saturday, Putin signed a decree, recognizing documents and license plates of vehicles registered to Donbass citizens and residents.
According to the Kremlin press service, Putin acted “to protect rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen and in accordance with generally accepted principles and norms of international humanitarian law.”
His decree is provisional until conflict resolution is achieved, nowhere in sight so far. It states:
“The Russian Federation recognizes the identity documents, education and/or qualification documents; certificates of birth, marriage (divorce), change of name, death; vehicle ownership certificates and license plates of vehicles issued by relevant bodies (organizations), de facto operating in the given areas, to citizens of Ukraine and persons without citizenship permanently residing in those areas.”
Donbass residents are free to enter Russia without visas, required only to present ID documents. The decree became effective with Putin’s signature, extending responsible outreach to the region’s people, suffering from Kiev’s aggression.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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