Updated 11:50 a.m. Moscow Time
LUHANSK, September 16 (RIA Novosti) – The leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) said Tuesday the Ukrainian president’s bill on the status of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions offers a chance for a peaceful settlement of the country’s conflict.
“The bill on the special status of Donbas is mostly in line with our stance for negotiations, voiced on September 1. So, even though a lot still remains unclear, we can say that the peace settlement has got its first chance,” Igor Plotnitsky said.
The bill will be discussed by the Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, later in the day. The document envisages local elections and grants amnesty to independence supporters.
Leaders of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) said they lay claim to the whole territory within the borders of respective administrative entities in Ukraine. Kiev, however, said it was ready to grant special status only to areas currently controlled by independence supporters.
The DPR and LPR also said they want full independence and will not agree to whatever status as part of Ukraine.
During the Trilateral Contact Group meeting on September 5 in Minsk, Kiev officials and representatives of the two self-proclaimed republics in southeastern Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire. The sides signed a 12-point plan that also said that Ukraine must adopt a new law allowing for a special status for Luhansk and Donetsk region and hold early elections there.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the law on the special status of the eastern Ukrainian regions is designed to ensure their “peaceful return under the sovereignty of Ukraine” and underlined that federalization of Ukraine is out of question.
