Russia’s Constitutional Court on Sunday recognized as lawful the treaties signed last Friday by Russian President Vladimir Putin for the annexation of four Moscow-occupied regions of Ukraine.
According to court documents published online, quoted by the French news agency, the court ruled: “recognize as consistent with the Constitution of the Russian Federation” the treaties for the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhia to become part of Russia.
The President of the Constitutional Court, Valeri Zorkin, chaired the meeting in St. Petersburg at which Putin’s request was considered early Saturday morning, Spain’s EFE news agency reported.
Zorkin was one of the guests at the treaty signing ceremony at St. George’s Hall of the Kremlin (Presidency) in Moscow.
Russia’s annexation of the four territories, which followed Crimea in 2014, was rejected and condemned by Ukraine, the United Nations and the international community at large.
The President of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, announced today that deputies will meet on Monday to discuss constitutional amendments related to the integration of the annexed territories.
“On Monday we will consider changes to constitutional laws, as well as the ratification of international treaties that have been signed,” Volodin said, quoted by the official Russian news agency TASS.
Volodin said the Duma is committed to quickly creating the conditions so that every citizen living in the annexed areas “feels protected, is in a single legal area from the point of view of social protection, financial system and economic space”.
Putin is following the same measures he took when Russia annexed Crimea eight years ago, which was also integrated into the Russian Federation after a referendum held under military occupation.
At the time, the Constitutional Court also gave the green light for annexation, as did the two chambers of the Russian parliament (Duma and Senate).
Speaking at the Kremlin on Friday, Putin said the four Ukrainian territories had been separated from Russia by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, an event he called a tragedy imposed without consultation with the population.
He said it was Russia that created modern Ukraine by ceding areas historically linked to Moscow, and that it is now right for them to return to the Russian homeland.
According to experts quoted by EFE, the annexation of these areas partially occupied by the Russian military will require reform of the constitution, which was amended in a controversial referendum two years ago, so that Putin can remain in power until 2036.
A clause was also introduced that prohibits the head of state from ceding territories belonging to the Russian Federation to another country.
The annexation requires an amendment to Article 65 of the Constitution so that the current 85 federal entities become 89.
According to the Russian online newspaper Meduza (based in Latvia), one of the judges of the Court, known for his critical views, resigned a few days ago. Konstantin Aranovsky left before he turned 70, the maximum age for Russian constitutional judges. In 2019, Aranovsky described the ban on foreign workers in Russian media as a “sign of censorship”.
Source: DN
