Donetsk, Jun 18 - DAN. Ukraine has to coordinate with the Donbass Republics any decision regarding the future of the region, Donetsk People’s Republic representative to the Contact Group, DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova said on Thursday.

On June 17, Andrey Yermak, head of the Office of the Ukrainian president told the Levy Bereg online media that amendments had been drawn to the law on special status of the region with embedded Steinmeier formula, which Kiev would discuss with the appointed Donbass representatives.

“This draft has not been presented to us; as of now the Contact Group has only reviewed our proposals regarding amendments to the above law,” Nikonorova said. “Any acts concerning the future of the Republics have to be coordinated with representatives of Donbass which has been subject to Ukrainian aggression for more than six years and whose representatives have signed the Package of Measures on its behalf.”

The DPR representative also criticised Yermak’s remarks concerning the persons with whom Kiev plans to coordinate these amendments. It contradicts to the Minsk Agreements and the Normandy Four accords, she said.

“We insistently recommend Kiev not to tell the media about its “domineering position” and present in deed at least some kind of negotiating position to the Contact Group, still better if it is presented in written form, substantiated and correlated with the most acute issues of the Minsk agenda. This move would be far more useful for real settlement of the conflict than verbosity in the media space and involvement of dubious persons in the negotiations - that is if Ukraine is really interested in restoring peace,” Nikonorova said.

The Agreements dated and September 5 and 19, 2014 and February 12, 2015 forged by the Contact Group in Minsk make groundwork for a peaceful settlement of the Donbass conflict. The Contact Group set forth a peace plan and agreed a ceasefire, then adopted the Memorandum on ceasefire implementation and later on the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements.

The Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements envisions a Constitutional reform in Ukraine which has to result in deep decentralisation. Special status for Donbass is one of the key points of the political accords. Kiev has to coordinate its decisions with DPR and LPR representatives. *jk