Russia May Support Independent Donbas if Paths to Peace are Exhausted

Russia is not leaving any possibilities off the table when it comes to resolving the Donbas conflict, upper-house foreign policy chief Konstantin Kosachev announced.

Russia may support the independence of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic if all other ways to achieve peace are exhausted, Russian Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev told radio station Kommersant FM.

"Here Russia doesn't need to say 'No, you have to be a territorially intergral state,' or 'No, you will never be a territorially integral state,' or 'Only federalization' or "Only autonomization,' or 'Only decentralization.'"

The senator noted that if the question is supporting the creation of an independent Novorossiya or independent LPR-DPR, Russia would consider it as an option.

"If and when all other all other possibilities to achieve a political solution are exhausted, I don't rule this possibility out."

On February 12, leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine worked out a set of measures in the Belarusian capital to alleviate the conflict in southeast Ukraine. As part of a 13-point deal, the warring sides must observe a ceasefire, withdraw large-caliber arms and conduct prisoner exchanges.

Additionally, the latest Minsk agreement required Kiev to decentralize power ahead of a wider constitutional reform.