"Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated today during a Q&A session that there is no alternative to the political settlement of the situation in Donbass," the Donetsk news agency quoted Zakharchenko as saying.
"He [Putin] stressed that Donbass residents must be given the right to decide how they will live, with whom, and on what conditions."
Decentralization of power is one of the points of the Minsk agreement, worked out in mid-February by the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine, and agreed upon by Kiev and representatives of the self-proclaimed republics.
On April 6, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was ready to hold a referendum on the country's state structure, expressing confidence that some 90 percent of Ukrainian voters would support the country's unity.