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New Ukraine agreement envisages restoring Kiev’s economic ties with Donbas

Ukraine will restore the management of a segment of its banking system in areas hit by the conflict and possibly

MINSK, February 12. /TASS/. A set of measures on implementing Minsk agreements adopted after Normandy Four talks in Minsk on Thursday envisages the restoration of social and economic ties of Kiev with the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, including pension payments.

The document agreed upon following almost 16 hours of negotiations between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, stipulates full restoration of social and economic ties, including payments of social benefits and pensions.

"For these aims, Ukraine will restore the management of a segment of its banking system in areas hit by the conflict and possibly, an international tool will be created to ease such transfers," the document says.

The set of measures also regulates the issues of providing humanitarian aid to the conflict zone. It states that "safe access, delivery, storage and distribution of humanitarian aid to those in need" must be ensured based on an international mechanism.

In early November, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced Kiev's suspending payments of around $2.6 billion, mostly for public sector wages and pensions, for people in the conflict-hit eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) described Kiev’s decision to stop paying pensions in the region as a "war crime."