The State Duma of the Russian Federation voted for the recognition of the republics of Donbass

1 Donbass

On 15th of February the Russian Parliament voted on a draft appeal to Vladimir Putin with a request to recognize the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. The document was approved by a majority of votes. The chairman of the lower house of the parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, noted that the resolution would be signed immediately, and sent to Putin as soon as possible. According to the deputies, the recognition of the DPR and LPR by Russia will give their residents security guarantees from the external threats.

2 Russia

Vladimir Putin held negotiations with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Kremlin. It was their first face-to-face meeting. According to the press service of Vladimir Putin, during the talks, topics on the two-sided and international agenda were discussed, including the issues related to the provision of long-term, legally fixed guarantees of the Russian security. Olaf Scholz noted that he is glad to meet with Putin. He mentioned the need to solve problems of the relations of Russia and Germany via a dialogue.

3 Russia

Russia objects to the adoption of any decisions at a possible OSCE meeting, called by the request of Ukraine — said the head of the Russian delegation at the negotiations in Vienna on the military security and arms control, Konstantin Gavrilov. The planned consultations on the Vienna Document in the OSCE were requested by Ukraine for 15th of February. Earlier, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitrii Kuleba stated that the Ukrainian authorities were calling a meeting with Russia and other Vienna Document states due to the Russian failure to respond to the Ukrainian request for an information on the military activities. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, noted that Russia doesn’t create any pre-texts for a conflict situation in Ukraine.

4 Syria

A Syrian military bus exploded in downtown Damascus — the SANA NEWS reported. The explosive device, placed by a terrorist, exploded at 07:25. As a result of the explosion — 1 person died, 14 were injured. The explosion took place near a customs crossroads.

5 Yemen

The Yemeni Forces High Command stated that they had recaptured the areas at the south of the province of Marib as a result of violent clashes with the fighters from the «Ansar Allah» movement. As a result of the clashes, dozens of rebels were killed and wounded. Their military vehicles and military equipment have been destroyed or seriously damaged. According to sources of the «Al Arabiya» TV — 40 members of the «Ansar Allah» died during the operations of the Yemeni troops west and south of Marib. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS