DONETSK, November 4 (RIA Novosti) — Newly-elected head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic Alexander Zakharchenko said Tuesday he is ready to meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
"I'm ready to meet with Poroshenko, the question is whether he is ready," Zakharchenko told the reporters.
On Sunday, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR,LPR) held general and parliamentary elections. Zakharchenko won the election, garnering 75.5 percent of the votes, according to the republic's Central Election Commission.
The ceasefire agreement reached by Ukrainian government and independence supporters on September 5 in Minsk stipulated that Kiev should ensure early local elections in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
However, the leaders of the DPR and LPR have laid claim to the whole territory within the borders of the respective administrative entities in Ukraine and and have held elections on Sunday. Kiev has called the vote illegitimate.
DPR Head Condemns Ukrainian President's Decision to Abolish Donbas' Special Status
Alexander Zakharchenko, newly-elected head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), has condemned Tuesday Ukrainian President Poroshenko's decision to abolish the law on the Donbas region's special status.
"It is no longer funny. They give it, they take it [the special status] away. Let it be on his [Poroshenko's] conscience," Zakharchenko said.
The law on self-administration in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, also known as Donbas, was signed by the Ukrainian president in mid-October, following the September 5 ceasefire agreement between Kiev and pro-independence forces. According to the deal, Kiev must have ensured early local elections in the two breakaway regions.
On Monday, Poroshenko said he was planning to submit abolition of law granting special status to Donbas Region to Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council. The council's session is scheduled for Tuesday.
DPR, Ukraine Continue Talks on Heavy Military Equipment Withdrawal
Defense ministers of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Ukraine are in talks on withdrawal of heavy military equipment from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, DPR head Aleksandr Zakharchenko told journalists Tuesday.
"Negotiations are continuing, they [the ministers] are in contact. The withdrawal of [military] equipment, the delineation, the exchange of prisoners are discussed. Ukraine withdrew its signature from the agreement, and we didn't get the official notice. We will find out whether it was recalled or not," Zakharchenko stated.
On October 29, the DPR acting prime minister announced that Kiev withdrew from the delineation agreement without giving any explanations for the move. The deal that was signed on October 11 envisaged the demarcation line to be along the line of contact between the two sides as of September 19.
