Kiev’s statements on changing the Contact Group’s composition run completely contrary to the essence of the Minsk process, intended to put the opposing parties to the negotiating table to resolve the conflict, plenipotentiary to the Minsk talks and Foreign Minister of the DPR Natalia Nikonorova stated.
“If Kiev chooses on its own with whom to negotiate, the whole process makes no sense. Obviously, the Ukrainian authorities do not want to negotiate with the legitimate representatives of the Republics, who uphold the legitimate interests of the people, but instead plan to choose “talking heads” that will voice any point of view that is convenient for them. It will not work out for them. Neither we nor the international mediators of the Minsk process will allow a revision of the agreements approved by the UN Security Council resolution.
She noted that Ukraine should first and foremost begin fulfilling its obligations under the Package of Measures providing for special status parameters related specifically to Donbass: language self-determination, local authorities’ empowerment to appoint representatives of the prosecutor’s office and the courts, the ability to conclude agreements on economic, cultural and social development, to have people’s militia, that is, the special aspects Kiev officials must take into account when carrying out a constitutional reform to secure the special status of Donbass.
“The present Ukrainian draft does not and cannot contain such provisions, because it is designed for the entire territory of Ukraine. This is an attempt to replace concepts. In simple terms, a trick.
Mr. Yermak so vehemently insists on changing the composition of the Contact Group on the part of the Republics only because we demand that the Ukrainian party holds a dialogue with our people, not with the Russian Federation which, just like the OSCE, is a mediator in the negotiation process. So, first of all, amendments to the constitution should be agreed with us, “hated” representatives of the Republics, and only then can a constitutional reform be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Package of Measures. It also concerns the local elections the Ukrainian party intends to hold in the fall of 2020, simultaneously with the other regions.
We remind the Kiev authorities that, according to the text of Steinmeier’s Formula, agreed by A. Ermak himself and signed by L. Kuchma, the elections in Donbass will be extraordinary and will not depend on the Ukrainian electoral cycle. Kiev’s unilateral actions only offset the small successes that have been achieved within the Minsk process lately,” Nikonorova emphasized.