Call The Decision To Join Russia Up To The People Of Donbas, Kremlin: The Will Of The People, Not In Our Hands

JAKARTA - The holding of referendums for the people in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, must be the will and will of the people there, and under certain conditions, the Kremlin said.

The statement by spokesman Dmitry Peskov came after comments by the Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and Chair of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, Leonid Slutsky, who said referendums in the DPR, LPR, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions were likely to be held this summer.

"It is not the Kremlin to make decisions about the (organization of) the referendum. We have repeatedly stated that it is completely up to the people living in the region to decide their future", Peskov said, according to TASS on June 3.

"Firstly, it must be the will of the people, secondly, the right conditions must be established (for holding the referendum)", Peskov continued.

Asked by a correspondent to elaborate on the possible nature of the conditions on the matter, Peskov said: "Obviously at a time when security is not completely guaranteed, given we are seeing continuous attacks by Ukrainian and nationalist forces targeting this region, we don't see the possibility of talking about that now."

"We need to have the will and the will of the people, and set the necessary conditions", he said.

As known, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would recognize the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics on April 21. Moscow recognizes the Donbas Republic by the constitutions of the DPR and LPR which established the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in early 2014.