On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR) at a ceremony in the Kremlin, TASS reports.

Earlier, during a televised address to citizens, he explained that he considered it necessary to make a “long overdue decision – to immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic.”

The President asked the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to support this decision, and then to ratify the treaties of friendship and mutual assistance with both republics. Announcing this, the president expressed confidence in the support of the citizens of Russia, all the patriotic forces of the country.

Then Putin met with the leaders of the DPR and LPR Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik and signed with them agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance between Russia and the two people’s republics. The ceremony was held in the Catherine’s Hall of the Kremlin, where a meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation had previously taken place. Members of the Security Council at this meeting spoke in favor of recognizing the independence of the DNR and LNR.

At the end of the ceremony, the Russian leader addressed Pasechnik and Pushilin and congratulated them. After the event, they also had a conversation.