The cancellation of the Federation Council's decree authorizing the use of the Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine will create a favorable background for the multi-party negotiations that have begun in the country, Mikhail Margelov, the head of the Federation Council committee on international affairs, said.
“It’s extremely important at the first stages of political settlement,” Margelov told Interfax on June 24.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on Tuesday asked the
Federation Council to cancel the decree issued on March 1, 2014 giving
him permission to use the Russian army on the territory of Ukraine. The
Federation Council will consider Putin’s address on Wednesday, June 25.
“I am confident that our chamber will meet the Russian president
halfway on this issue, although I predict that some of our hotheads, who
demand ‘drastic action’ from the Russian administration, will be
disappointed,” Margelov said.
Margelov believes that Russia’s restrained policies on the events in
Ukraine and its calm reaction to sanctions and slanderous statements are
already yielding peacemaking fruit.
“Russia’s position is that the people should have the first say in
their crisis. We attached and we still attach a lot of importance to the
negotiations between Kyiv and representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The beginning of such negotiations should mark the beginning of a
political approach to the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” Margelov
said. These negotiations have now begun and there is no acute need to
bring Russian troops to Ukraine now, he said.
