Donetsk, Oct 15 - DAN. Kiev representatives in the political subgroup at the Minsk talks on Tuesday tried to substitute the notion of special status with decentralisation, which is at odds with provisions of the Steinmeier formula signed by Ukraine two weeks ago, the Donetsk People’s Republic Foreign Ministry said.
“Kiev negotiators are finding ever new methods to neutralise any progress,” the DPR Foreign Ministry said. “The attempts to substitute the existing accords have become a bad tradition of Kiev representatives who are regularly replaced in the political group. In the first place, they attempted today to substitute the notion of special status of Donbass and its cementing in the Constitution with decentralisation.”
The DPR and LPR regard this approach as unacceptable and unscrupulous. The Republics will continue to insist on verbatim implementation of the Package of Measures approved by the UN Security Council, the Foreign Ministry said.
“Saving lives and restoring peace and quiet on the Donbass land is the priority of the Minsk process, and Ukraine must be aware that special status of Donbass, properly secured by the Constitution, is the only way to achieve a long-term peaceful settlement,” it added.
The Contact Group at the meeting in Minsk on October 1 coordinated the Steinmeier formula for its implementation in Ukrainian legislation. It sets forth a mechanism to put in operation the law on local self-rule in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.*jk