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Putin: People of East Ukraine Should Be Allowed to Decide Their Own Future

© Sputnik / Vladimir Astapkovich / Go to the mediabankRussian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual news conference in Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual news conference in Moscow - Sputnik International
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The Russian President states that the residents of the self-proclaimed people's republics in Ukraine have the right to choose their destiny.

Russian President Vladimir Putin during the press conference on December 20, 2012. - Sputnik International
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Live Report: Putin’s Annual Big Press Conference
MOSCOW, December 18 (Sputnik) – Residents of self-proclaimed eastern Ukrainian republics have the right to decide their future under the internationally accepted right of people for self-determination, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

“We must follow the general principles of the international law, and the people of Novorossiya have the right to decide their own fate,” he said.

Luhansk and Donetsk, two regions in the southeast of Ukraine, held independence referendums in April in a bid to split from Ukraine after it went through a painful coup two months before. The separation bid came in the wake of Crimea's successful vote to break away from the country and reunite with Russia in March.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov assused Kiev on Tuesday that Moscow never regarded Donetsk and Luhansk provinces – the self-styled people's republics, or DPR and LPR – as yet "another Crimea". He vowed that Russia respected Ukraine's integrity, but added that Crimea, historically a Russian territory with a majority Russian population, was a "unique" case.

Donetsk and Luhansk created an alliance called Novorossiya in spring to present a united front against Kiev, prompting it to launch a violent military operation to crack down on independence supporters.

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