Russian MPs have urged Vladimir Putin to recognize two areas in eastern Ukraine as independent, Euronews reports.
It comes following a vote in the Duma on Tuesday.
Two resolutions were presented to the lower house with the aim of recognizing the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) as independent.
Both are located in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.
The difference between the two resolutions is that the first one appealed directly to Putin to "immediately" recognize the two areas as independent, while the second was to be sent to Russia's foreign ministry and other governmental structures "for study and feedback".
Viacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Duma lower house, said in a statement following the vote that "the deputies decided to send an appeal to the president".
He argued such a recognition "will create grounds for guaranteeing the security and protection of the inhabitants of the republics from external threats, as well as for strengthening international peace and regional stability in accordance with the purposes and principle of the Charte of the United Nations and will initiate the process of international recognition both states."
He accused Ukrainian authorities of violating the inhabitants' "rights and freedoms" and of operating a "complete economic blockade" of the two areas.
"Deputies of the State Duma consider the recognition of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic justified and morally justified. Over the past years, democratic bodies and states with all the attributes of legitimate power have been built in the republics on the basis of the will of the people," he claimed.
