All news

Russian expert says roadmap on Donbass will include special status provisions

On October 19, the Normandy Quartet leaders agreed to adopt a road map on the implementation of the Minsk accords

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/. The road map on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict will be based on all of the Normandy Quartet’s previous agreements, which include the "Steinmeier formula" and four requirements drawn up at the Paris meeting on October 2, 2015, Deputy Director of the Russian Center for Current Politics Oleg Ignatov said.

He noted that Russia had put forward its draft road map, France and Germany were expected to come up with a joint document, Ukraine would also present its point of view. "However it has already become clear that Germany, Russia and France share the opinion that the road map should take into account the "Steinmeier formula" and four requirements agreed on at the Paris summit," the Russian expert said.

According to Ignatov, "this means that Kiev will have to provide constitutional guarantees of the special status of Donbass republics and adopt a law granting amnesty for those taking part in the Donbass events with a specific date" and also to conduct regional elections.

At the meeting held in Paris on October 2, 2015, the Normandy Quartet leaders agreed on specific steps aimed at advancing the process of implementation of the Minsk agreements. The steps included disengaging the warring sides controlled by the OSCE mission, providing constitutional guarantees of the special status of Donbass republics, withdrawal of heavy weapons under the OSCE’s round-the-clock monitoring as well as adopting a law granting amnesty for those taking part in the Donbass events with a specific date.

This past January, the German foreign minister put forward a mechanism for settling the Donbass conflict later dubbed "the Steinmeier formula." Germany’s top diplomat proposed to temporarily introduce a law on special local governance in specific areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions on the election day and bring it permanently into effect after the OSCE report on the elections have been published.

At the summit held on October 19 in Berlin, the Normandy Quartet leaders agreed that a road map on the implementation of the Minsk accords should be hammered out by the end of November.