MOSCOW. Feb 22 (Interfax) - The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) could ask Russia to provide military assistance despite its intention to be self-reliant, DPR leader Denis Pushilin said.
"Our position is that we first and foremost count on ourselves, our own forces, precisely because we have an active mobilization campaign underway. We will be looking at the situation. Of course we are not ruling out having at some point to appeal to the Russian Federation for help," Pushilin said on Rossiya-24 television channel on Tuesday.
This could happen "under the already comprehensible conditions, the conditions spelt out in the agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance between Russia and the DPR and LPR," Pushilin said.
When asked within which borders the DPR and LPR were recognized after all, he said: "It's a matter that does not require hasty explanations because, first of all, one should be guided by what is spelt out in the DPR and LPR Constitutions, and these spell out the administrative borders as when the referenda were conducted in 2014."
He added: "One should be bear in mind the fact [that] these are not all of the territories we control. The issue is not easy and will be settled later. How and what could influence these or those decisions, time will tell, as will the position of Ukraine, of course."
When asked whether the DPR was going to seize control over more territories, the leader said: "I would not go too far ahead; I would act step by step."