He then stated that Ukraine was failing to uphold the Minsk agreements, and, as a result, it was "necessary to take a long overdue decision" to recognise the independence of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic, and that a Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance with the two regions would be signed. He then ended the speech by calling for the Ukrainian government to "immediately stop hostilities," or else "the responsibility for the possible continuation of the bloodshed will lie entirely on the conscience of Ukraine’s ruling regime."[5][6][7]