On 21 February 2022, at the end of a TV speech to the nation, the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Putin, signed the act of recognition of the separatist republics of Luhansk and Donetsk. On 23 February, before the Chamber of Deputies (644th Meeting, XVIII Legislature), the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr. Luigi Di Maio, made an urgent Government briefing on this issue.