Ukraine: Luhansk separatists want recognition by Belarus


The leader of the ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ expressed hope that it would be recognized by Belarus as an independent state.

In his statement pro-Moscow separatist Valery Bolotov said that he was hopeful that the secession of the Luhansk province from Ukraine would also be recognized by Kazakhstan, Russia and Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. ‘We have had economic ties with these states for centuries,’ he said.

According to Mr Bolotov, the self-proclaimed republic was creating its foreign ministry and would send its ‘ambassadors’; to all states with which it would manage to establish formal relations.

The ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ and the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ in the adjacent Donetsk province were created as a result of controversial self-rule referendums held by armed pro-Russian militants on May 11. Not a single state has recognised their independence yet. The Ukrainian government described the self-proclaimed republics as terrorist organizations.

The recent ‘self-rule’ referendums in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk provinces bear no significance from a legal viewpoint, the Belarusian leader said when interviewied by TV Rain (Dozhd), a Russian independent television channel. ‘I do not even say under what conditions the referendums were held. Any referendum should be conducted on the basis of the constitution,’ Mr Lukashenka stressed.

www.belsat.eu/en, following BelaPAN

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