Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked parliament to repeal a resolution granting him the authority to deploy troops to Ukraine, raising hopes of a political settlement to quell the conflict in the country’s east.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Putin wrote a letter to the chair of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, asking to repeal the March 1 resolution allowing him “to use the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine until the normalization of the socio-political situation in that country,” Russian agencies reported. A rubber-stamp institution pliant to Putin’s every wish, the Federation Council passed the initial resolution in just 103 minutes and is expected to repeal it tomorrow, according to state media.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Putin’s decision was the “first practical step” taken by Russia towards ending the two-month pro-Russian separatist uprising in Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, according to a statement on the presidential website.
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