Will Moscow tell the rebels to lay down arms? Senator Klimov tells me:“We never asked anyone to take up Kalashnikovs, you'll never prove it"
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) June 24, 2014
Now Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has responded to Putin's move saying it's the "first practical step" by Russia toward settling the crisis in the country's east.
In this piece, Paul Goble picks up on some comments by Moscow commentator Igor Eidman, arguing that "Putin is Carrying Out ‘Biggest Information Special Op’ in Modern Times."
They were “consciously led to a state of mass psychosis. The irrational fear and hatred of the Russian speakers to the new Ukrainian authorities was intentionally provoked with the help of a brainwashing campaign, the dissemination of panic rumors, and the work of Russian media and political technologists.”
No one threatened Donetsk or Luhansk, least of all Kyiv, until the revolt forced the Ukrainian army to intervene. “The population [of the two oblasts] did not need a war” and it has not brought them anything but suffering. “But there are forces interested in provoking the conflict and using the population of these regions for their own selfish interests.”
More on Putin's request to the Federation Council from our news desk:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked the Federation Council to revoke the authorization it had granted for Russian military forces to intervene in Ukraine.
Interfax quotes a senior Russian senator as saying the Federation Council will withdraw the resolution on June 25.
Russian news agencies quote Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying the request was made with the aim of "normalizing the atmosphere and resolving the situation in the eastern regions of Ukraine, and also in connection with the start of three-way negotiations."
Putin's announcement comes one day after EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels, urged the Kremlin to revoke the March 1 mandate.
EU foreign ministers also repeated their threat of wider sanctions if Russia failed to support a peace plan put forward by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Putin has given his cautious support to the plan.
BREAKING: Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked parliament to cancel the authorization to send the Russian Army into Ukraine.
Our correspondent in Brussels is reporting that NATO foreign ministers are planning to set up a trust fund to support Ukraine's defense capacity when they meet in Brussels on June 24-25.
A NATO source tells RFE/RL that the trust fund will focus on boosting Ukrainian defense in areas such as logistics, command and control, and cyberdefense.
No lethal aid to Ukraine has so far been discussed.
At the moment, there is also no decision on a timeline for setting up the fund or how much money will be available.
Officials also say no change is expected in an April decision to suspend all practical NATO-Russia cooperation, amid speculation that a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council would be convened soon to take stock of the situation in Ukraine.
Foreign ministers will also discuss the situation in Afghanistan and review progress ahead of a NATO summit in September in the four countries aspiring for NATO membership -- Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, and Macedonia.