A couple of interesting paragraphs from the Financial Times coverage:
"Moscow has previously seen the two statelets as an insurance policy in Ukraine. It has demanded that their return to Ukraine would come with their veto over major foreign policy decisions, notably Kyiv’s application to join Nato, which is a red line for Moscow.'
"A bigger problem emerges in the medium-term: the two statelets each claim all of the Ukrainian districts of Luhansk and Donetsk. Russia has not made clear whether it is acknowledging their claims to territory under Kyiv’s control."