The ongoing events in the Donbas region have been termed genocide by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Following a discussion with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President Putin declared the events in the Donbas region to be genocide. The Russian president went on to say that Kyiv routinely abuses human rights, including sanctioning discrimination against Ukraine's Russian-speaking community.

The mandatary emphasized the Russian State Duma's passage of a motion requesting recognition of the two self-proclaimed people's republics in Donbas. Putin expressed optimism that the Minsk agreements could still be implemented and that it was not too late.

"There has been no progress on such fundamental issues as constitutional reform, amnesty [to all Donbas residents], local elections and legal aspects of the special status of Donbas," Putin noted, referring to the key provisions of the 2015 Minsk agreements.

Concerning the Duma's proposal, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that he would make a decision based on the interests of resolving the Donbas issues and keeping in mind the potential that the execution of the Minsk agreements represented.

The Ukrainian government has been at war with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics since 2014, following a West-backed coup. The violence in the Donbas region arose from fears that the territory's new nationalist-minded authorities would infringe on the right of its Russian-speaking populace to use whichever language they choose.

Even though the truce has been brokered through international mediation since 2015, no major progress has been made. Both republics frequently criticize Kyiv for violating the truce and attempting to resolve the crisis through armed methods.