And it took Russia 8 years to recognize two republics. Why would that be, if they desperately needed that piece of land? Putin even asked the separatists to postpone the referendums in May 2014.
The "People's Republic of Donetsk" declared itself an independent country on Monday and, within two hours of doing so, had asked to join Russia. The separatist leader Denis Pushilin told journalists that the self-proclaimed republic would ask Moscow to consider absorbing the region, which borders Russia.
But it remains extremely doubtful whether Moscow will carry out a Crimea-style annexation of the region, which held a controversial referendum on independence on Sunday, together with neighbouring Luhansk.
