Donetsk, Jan 13 – DAN. The amendments to the Ukrainian constitution submitted by the country's president Vladimir Zelensky will block the possibility to incorporate the Donbass special status into the legislation. said DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova.

"The proposed draft bill does not mention Donbass special status, though its incorporation into the Constitution is a fundamental condition for the longtime and efficient peace settlement. Moreover, Zelensky is openly trying to erase the notion of region from the constitution, though it is essential for the Minsk Agreements. Apparently, Ukrainian authorities are not going to provide Donbass with special status, but are striving to block even the opportunity to do so.

"The Republics are not going to acknowledge any Ukrainian initiatives concerning Donbass unless it is coordinated with the region," she said.

"Zelensky's project has nothing to do either with the internal conflict or with the Minsk process in general, what we observe is a frank imitation and substitution of notions, not an intention to settle the conflict."

The text of the draft law by Zelensky on amendments to constitution in what concerns the decentralization was uploaded to the Ukrainian parliament website in December 2019. The document does not mention Donbass special status but provides Rada with the power to introduce special legal regime on the territories without amending the Constitution. *ot