MOSCOW. Feb 20 (Interfax) - The Russian president's decree recognizing documents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) does not run counter to Russia's international obligations and is temporary, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
"The Russian Federation is guided primarily by humanitarian considerations. The decree is fully consistent with international law which does not prohibit recognition of the main documents necessary for the exercise of civil rights and freedoms, issued by authorities that are not internationally recognized," the ministry said in a commentary on its website.
"This is being proved by the international practice and decisions of international courts, including the United Nations International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights," the ministry said.
"The measures being introduced by the Decree are temporary," it said.
"They are designed for the period until the situation in the separate districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine is settled politically under the Minsk agreements," the commentary said.