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Developments in eastern Ukraine

Donetsk, Luhansk leaders to study documents on special status

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Ukraine ceasefire regime generally observed — Lavrov

MOSCOW, September 9. /ITAR-TASS/. Leaders of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic will study proposals from the central government in Kiev, outlining plans for the region’s special administrative status, Lugansk Supreme Council chairman Alexei Karyakin said on Tuesday.

"We can have dialogue with Kiev only after we make sure the document contributes to the region’s social and economic development," he added.

Proposals for decentralization and temporary local government for Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions were drawn up in a protocol last week by the five-party Contact Group outlining prospects for Ukraine's future.

The meeting of the Contact Group brought together Ukraine's former President, Leonid Kuchma, Russian ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, Heidi Tagliavini, representing the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, vice-premier of Donetsk People's Republic Andrei Purgin and Luhansk Supreme Council chairman Alexei Karyakin.

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