Putin-Trump summit: Another referendum in separatist-controlled ‘republics’ in Donbas?

During the recent summit in Helsinki, Russian president Vladimir Putin offered his US counterpart Donald Trump to hold a referendum on the status of the separatist-controlled areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions under the supervision of international organisations.

The Russian leader came up with the proposal when the issue of resolving the conflict in the east of Ukraine was being discussed. Putin and Trump agreed not to make public comments on it for a while, Bloomberg reports with reference to their sources among Russian diplomats.

President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov has neither confirmed nor denied this information, saying only that ‘some new ideas’ would be ‘thrashed out’.

It should be noted that in May 2014 the militants of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk republics held a referendum on their sovereignty and accession to Russia. Ukraine, the West and all international organizations failed to acknowledge it as legitimate. Although Russia said it respected the will of the voters, the Kremlin did not recognize the referendum de facto.

ІІ, belsat.eu, following Bloomberg