Russia ruling party urges leadership to arm Ukraine separatists

Russia’s ruling party has urged the country’s leadership to start arming Ukraine’s separatist-held regions to help them defend themselves against Western-backed Kyiv authorities, a senior member said Wednesday.

In a statement broadcast on Russian state television Vladimir Vasilyev, head of the United Russia faction in parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, said, AFP reports.

“We are appealing to the leadership of our country to provide assistance to the Lugansk and Donetsk republics in the form of supplies of military products necessary to deter aggression.”

He added: “We held consultations on this issue and came to the understanding that we cannot leave people to the mercy of the Kyiv regime.”

The United States and its EU allies accuse Russia of seeking to upend European stability by threatening an invasion of Ukraine, a former Soviet republic striving to join NATO and other Western institutions.