Vladimir Putin gets green light to deploy troops to eastern Ukraine
Zee News
Inflaming a crisis with the West, the upper chamber`s lawmakers voted unanimously in favour after Putin asked for permission to deploy forces abroad.
Moscow: Russian leader Vladimir Putin got the green light from his upper house of parliament on Tuesday (February 22) to deploy Russian military forces to two separatist-held regions of eastern Ukraine for what lawmakers said would be a "peacekeeping" mission.
Inflaming a crisis with the West, the upper chamber`s lawmakers voted unanimously in favour after Putin asked for permission to deploy forces abroad.
That step came after Moscow recognised the independence of the Ukrainian regions on Monday (February 21), triggering international condemnation and sanctions. The decision takes immediate effect, senior lawmaker Andrei Klishas told the chamber.
"By approving the use of the armed forces abroad, we assume they will be peacekeeping forces - forces designed to maintain peace and stability in the (self-proclaimed east Ukrainian) republics," Valentina Matvienko, the upper house`s speaker, said before the vote.
As lawmakers met to discuss the idea, the Kremlin announced Putin had ratified friendship treaties with two Moscow-backed Ukrainian breakaway republics.
