Putin: Russia sees threats and blackmail from the West on the recognition of the DNR and LNR

RT is broadcasting.

“We need to answer a question that was posed a long time ago and fixed in the State Duma's appeal to the head of state.

The question of the recognition of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic.

We see threats and blackmail from our Western colleagues, we understand the reason for such a step and the situation that has developed at the moment, ”Putin said during an extraordinary meeting of the Security Council.

Earlier, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, Leonid Pasechnik, called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognize the independence of the republic.

A similar appeal was made by the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin.

On February 15, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin announced that the lower house of parliament at a plenary session voted in favor of sending an appeal to the Russian president recognizing the independence of the LPR and DPR.