On 18 February 2017, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian authorities to recognise identity documents, diplomas, birth and marriage certificates and vehicle registration plates as issued by the DPR (and the Luhansk People's Republic) until a "political settlement of the situation" in separatist controlled regions based on the Minsk II agreement is reached. The decision enabled people living in DPR controlled territories to travel, work or study in Russia. According to the decree, it was signed "to protect human rights and freedoms" in accordance with "the widely recognised principles of international humanitarian law". Ukrainian authorities decried the decision as being directly contradictory to the Minsk II agreement and that it "legally recognised the quasi-state terrorist groups which cover Russia's occupation of part of Donbas".