Luhansk (Times Of Ocean)- A separatist leader in eastern Ukraine said Sunday that the breakaway Luhansk region may hold a referendum soon on joining Russia.
“I think that in the near future a referendum will be held on the territory of the Luhansk People’s Republic,” Leonid Pasechnik, the head of self-proclaimed region, according to reporters in Luhansk.
“The people will exercise their absolute constitutional right and express their opinion on joining the Russian Federation. For some reason, I am sure that this is exactly how it will be,” he emphasized.
It was, however, met coolly by the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament.
Leonid Kalashnikov, chairman of the committee on the Commonwealth of Independent States, believes that the time is not right to make such a move.
“I do not think the right time is now, nor is it necessary to consider such questions now,” he said.