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LPR head: Kiev should implement all points of Minsk agreements before Donbass election

Ukraine has not moved forward in implementing the Minsk agreements, Igor Plotnitsky said
Head of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky Taras Dudnik/TASS
Head of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky
© Taras Dudnik/TASS

MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko should first of all focus on implementing all points of the Minsk agreements before local elections in Donbass, head of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky said on Sunday.

"We will decide by ourselves, without Pyotr Alexeevich [Poroshenko] whether to take part in the elections when time comes. But for now, I would suggest he focuses on implementing all points [in the Minsk agreements] preceding holding elections on our territory," Lugansk Inform Center quotet Plotnitsky as saying.

Ukraine has not moved forward in implementing the Minsk agreements. "Up to this moment, no points in the package of measures [on implementing the Minsk agreements] were fulfilled by Kiev fully and in time," he noted.

Discussing snap election in the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic makes sense only after amendments are introduced to Ukraine’s constitution, head of LPR council of ministers Gennady Tsypkalov said on earlier Sunday.

"If [Minsk] agreements are implemented step by step, amendments to Ukraine’s constitution are introduced, election is coordinated with us, then maybe it will happen," Lugansk Inform Center quoted Tsypkalov as saying.

"It is pointless to discuss the possibility of holding election" in Donbass before Ukraine introduces amendments to the constitution, Tsypkalov noted.

"I don’t rule out holding election, but it will be done in accordance with those conditions, with the Minsk agreements that our leadership agreed upon," he added.

Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko said earlier that election in Donbass may take place by the end of 2015. Poroshenko confirmed readiness to work with Donbass representatives elected in accordance with Ukrainian laws and under monitoring of international observers.

Minsk Agreements

The Minsk agreements were signed in February 2015 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko. They envisage ceasefire in Ukraine’s south-east, heavy weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local elections in Donbass and constitutional reform in Ukraine.