“As for referendums: there is no need to force, there is no need to force anyone to do something.
This should be the free will of the residents of Donetsk and Luhansk, other regions, if this happens.
Residents themselves must determine their fate, only residents,” Matvienko stressed.
She noted that the decision on the status of the territories must be made on the basis of the existing rules in this regard.
“If the inhabitants of these territories express such a desire, aspiration, then Russia will support any of their decisions.
It should be the will of the people of these territories,” she concluded.
Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev earlier in an interview with Al Jazeera said that the country intends to carefully analyze the will of the inhabitants of Donbass on the issue of possible entry into its composition.
The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, noted that it would be expedient to hold a referendum on joining Russia in the Donbass only after reaching the constitutional borders of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.