Putin asks parliament to revoke approval for using force in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin asked parliament Tuesday to cancel a resolution sanctioning the use of military force in Ukraine – but cautioned that the Kremlin would continue to protect Russians and their allies in the country if necessary. Putin also called for the extension of a weeklong cease-fire in Russia's strife-torn neighbor, a laying down of arms that looked increasingly fragile following a deadly attack on a Ukrainian army helicopter Tuesday. 

"We will always protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine, as well as the part of Ukrainian people who ... feel part of the wider Russian world, and we will not only monitor this but also react,” Putin said. “I hope that armed forces will not be necessary for this," Putin said during negotiations in Vienna on Tuesday. 

The reversal comes as pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine announced that they would respect a cease-fire declared by the Ukrainian president last week, raising hopes for an end to months of fighting that have killed hundreds of people and driven thousands from their homes. The turmoil has also brought relations between the Kremlin and the West to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War a quarter century ago.

Putin’s stern but apparently conciliatory remarks about efforts to forge a lasting peace between Ukrainians came just hours before pro-Russian rebels shot down a Ukrainian army helicopter, killing nine technicians.

Ukraine' military said nine the aircraft was shot down in Slovyansk. Vladislav Seleznev, a spokesman for the Ukrainian operation against the rebels in the east, said the rebels downed the Mi-8 helicopter with a shoulder-fired missile.

It was the second time a helicopter has been brought down by rebel fire from Slovyansk, a separatist stronghold. On May 30, rebels there downed a Ukrainian military chopper killing 14 servicemen, including one general.

Apart from the attack on the aircraft, it appeared Tuesday that the ceasefire was holding. The technicians on board had been installing equipment to monitor violations of a peace plan.

But Ukraine's president said he may terminate the week-long cease-fire ahead of time because of continuing rebel attacks.

President Petro Poroshenko's statement Tuesday came just hours after the helicopter attack in Slovyansk. He also said that rebels had fired on Ukrainian positions 35 times since the cease-fire was unilaterally announced on Friday. 

Meanwhile, Putin said Tuesday that the seven-day cease-fire that began Monday was not enough to solve the crisis.

"We believe that seven days of cease-fire is too short a deadline," Putin said in Vienna, adding that stopping violence must be accompanied by "substantive" efforts toward peace.

Putin's apparent pullback on the use-of-force resolution marks another apparent effort to de-escalate the crisis ahead of his Tuesday visit to Vienna, where he was meeting with officials from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who have helped broker peace talks between Kiev and Moscow.

According to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, legislators have scheduled a vote for Wednesday on the cancellation.

Putin issued his initial request to parliament on March 1, after Ukraine's pro-Russian president Victor Yanukovich was ousted in February following months of street protests and bloody battles between police and Ukrainians opposed to Moscow’s bid for closer ties with Kiev.

The Federation Council had granted Putin the right to "use the Russian Federation's Armed Forces on the territory of Ukraine until the social and political situation in that country normalizes.”

Later that month, Russia annexed Ukraine's Black Sea region of Crimea, home to many Russian speakers and an age-old port for Moscow’s naval fleet, strategic in part because it remains ice-free year-round.

Since then, pro-Russian armed groups in east Ukraine have clashed with forces still loyal to the capital. Kiev and Western governments have frequently accused Russia of supporting the rebels and of amassing troops on the border with Ukraine in preparation for a possible invasion.

European Union foreign ministers on Monday held out the prospect of further sanctions if Russia did not do more to support a peace process in eastern Ukraine, and also asked it to revoke the resolution.

Since then, rebels in eastern Ukraine have agreed to a temporary ceasefire to give time for peace talks in a forum where Russia is represented alongside the Kiev government and the OSCE.

Responding to Putin’s announcement Tuesday, newly elected Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called it a "first practical step" following Putin's statement of support last weekend for Poroshenko'speace plan for eastern Ukraine.

Al Jazeera and wire services