Russian lawmakers to discuss call for recognition of pro-russia regions

MOSCOW, Jan 21, Reuters - Russia's parliament will hold consultations next week on an idea to appeal to President Vladimir Putin to recognise two pro-Russian breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent states, the speaker said on Friday.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the Speaker of the State Duma, made an announcement ahead of a meeting in Geneva later on Friday between Russia's top diplomat and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss soaring tensions over Ukraine.

A Russian troop build-up near Ukraine has stirred fears among Western countries that a war could break out between the former Soviet neighbors whose ties have been fraught since the annexation of Crimea by Moscow and the beginning of a Russia-backed insurgency in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic in Donbass, eastern Ukraine are seen as a potential step that Putin could take if he doesn't get security guarantees from the West.

In a statement posted to his account on the Telegram messenger service, Volodin said that a decision had been taken to further examine a draft parliamentary resolution submitted by 11 lawmakers on Wednesday by 11 lawmakers - including Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov - which said Russia needed to recognise the two regions as independent to protect their residents from external threats.

Volodin said that the ruling pro-Putin United Russia party was worried about the security of Russians living in the two breakaway areas. Since 2014, Moscow has handed over 600,000 Russian passports to residents.

Volodin said that the question submitted for our examination is a very serious and responsible one.

He said it would be right for it to be discussed next week with the leaders of the main parties represented in parliament and then by the Duma's ruling council which decides on the chamber's timetable and workload.

We see that Ukrainian President Zelenskiy is ignoring the Minsk peace agreements. Volodin said we must not let this happen.

Zelenskiy has said he is open to talks with Russia, while Western leaders have made clear that there is no near-term prospect of Ukraine joining NATO.