Donetsk, Aug 1 - DAN. Donetsk People’s Republic, at the political subgroup’s upcoming talks in the Belarus capital, hopes to begin a discussion of the key provision of the Minsk agreements which envisions special status for Donbass, acting DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova told Donetsk News Agency on Tuesday.
“The mechanism of enforcing the law on special status of our territories has priority at the upcoming meeting in Minsk,” Nikonorova said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to start a substantive discussion although we can assume that the Ukrainian representatives will again be the only party at the talks objecting to this compromise mechanism.”
The diplomat also reminded that the heads of the Minsk Agreements guarantor countries confirmed their commitment to the results of the Normandy Four summits in Paris and Berlin based on the Steinmeier formula. “This mechanism, in effect, provides an opportunity to rectify Ukraine’s failure to meet the deadline on enforcing the special status law which should be in operation by now,” she said.
At the previous meetings, the Contact Group political subgroup participants were unable to make headway in key issues. Ukraine avoids the discussion of the law on special status and ignores its commitments trying to derogate from the Minsk Agreements.
Belarus capital Minsk will host the next round of the Donbass peace talks on Wednesday. The humanitarian subgroup’s participation is not envisioned this time.*jk