Donetsk, Apr 19 - DAN. Kiev representatives in the subgroup on political issues have refused to work on the agenda of the meeting stating that they had not approved it, acting Foreign Minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic Natalia Nikonorova told the Donetsk News Agency.
“The Ukrainian negotiators showed blatant indifference at Wednesday’s meeting to the rules of the negotiating process and disrespect to the OSCE as its mediator,” Nikonorova said. “Kiev stated that it could not recall giving its approval to the political subgroup’s agenda despite the fact that it had been publicly endorsed at the Contact Group meeting through a consensus which was duly recorded by the OSCE Secretariat.”
She added that the first step towards launching the political dialogue is a compromise on the procedure for the special Donbass status law to come into effect, but that Kiev was not ready to make that move. The situation shows that the Ukrainian negotiators’ current mandate actually gives no opportunity to begin political settlement.
“Apparently the establishment of stable and lasting peace in Donbass is not possible without Ukraine’s political will. So far, we have seen provocative slogans voiced by Kiev representatives in Minsk instead of Ukraine’s official negotiating positions,” the diplomat said.
Minsk hosted a new round of Donbass talks on Wednesday involving all working groups of the Contact Group. *jk