- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Ukraine's Bill on Donbass Reintegration Blocks Minsk Accords - Russian Envoy

© Sputnik / Sergey Averin / Go to the mediabankAn apartment in a five-storied residential building in Yasinovataya, Donbass, damaged in shelling by Ukrainian army. (File)
An apartment in a five-storied residential building in Yasinovataya, Donbass, damaged in shelling by Ukrainian army. (File) - Sputnik International
Subscribe
A new draft bill on the restoration of Ukraine's sovereignty over Donbass contradicts the Minsk agreements and blocks the peace process, Russian envoy to the Contact Group on Ukraine Boris Gryzlov said Wednesday.

MINSK (Sputnik) — Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko introduced to the country's parliament the bill on reintegration of Donbass earlier on Wednesday. According to the parliaments' website, "the draft bill on characteristic features of the state policy regarding ensuring Ukraine's sovereignty over temporally occupied territories in Donetsk and Lugansk regions" has been determined by the Ukrainian president as an urgent one.

"The bill on the restoration of sovereignty over Donbass, submitted today to the Verkhovna Rada, completely contradicts the Minsk agreements, further distances Donbass from Ukraine and blocks the Minsk process," Gryzlov told reporters.

Situation in Donbass - Sputnik International
DPR Warns US Lethal Weapons Won't Help Kiev 'Win Civil War' in Donbass
The envoy noted that Kiev had not yet made a decision regarding granting a special status to certain areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

"The special status of Donbass is the essential condition for the political settlement in Ukraine," Gryzlov pointed out.

Kiev began a military campaign in the Donbass region in 2014, after the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) refused to recognize the new government. In February 2015, a ceasefire agreement was signed between the conflicting sides in Minsk but the situation in the region remained tense.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала