OREANDA-NEWS. Vito Comencini, a member of the Italian parliament from the League party, in a conversation with RIA Novosti, said that Russia's recognition of the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (LPR and DPR) is a consequence of the failure of the Minsk agreements and ignoring the Western countries' desire for autonomy in Donbass.

“The choice in favor of Russian recognition of the regions of Donbass is one of the predictable consequences of the bitter failure of the Minsk agreements. It seems obvious to me that the West and especially Europe failed to understand and take seriously the demands of the population of Donbass,” the politician said.

In his opinion, Europe should strive to return the status of a civilization, at the head of which "are people, values ​​and personality, and not inciting ideological clashes and senseless nationalism."

“Citizens of these territories, living for eight years in a situation of siege, encirclement, terror, without any understanding and work, are eventually forced to take refuge in Russia in large numbers. Ignoring the desire of Donbass for autonomy and linguistic freedom was an unforgivable mistake,” Komencini stressed.

On February 21, the head of Russia, Vladimir Putin, officially recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics by signing the relevant orders, and also set the task for the Ministry of Defense to ensure the preservation of peace in the republics.

Earlier, due to the aggravation of relations between the DPR, LPR and the Ukrainian side, the heads of the self-proclaimed republics Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik asked Putin to recognize the independence of the regions.