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Representative of self-proclaimed Donetsk republic says volunteer battalions are illegal

The representative commented on Kiev's attempt to transfer volunteer battalions to the jurisdiction of Ukraine’s armed forces and the National Guard

MOSCOW, April 14. /TASS/. Despite an attempt by Kiev to legalize volunteer battalions, they will remain illegitimate, plenipotentiary representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in the Contact Group on Ukraine Denis Pushilin said Monday.

"We are convinced that the order to transfer the so-called volunteer battalions to the jurisdiction of Ukraine’s armed forces and the National Guard is called upon to take these illegal armed formations out of the effect of relevant points of the Package of Measures on implementation of the Minsk agreements," the Donetsk News Agency quoted Pushilin as saying.

He said "the so-called volunteer battalions were created as punitive formations for genocide of Donbas people, we still believe they are beyond the law," he said.

The foreign ministers of the Normandy Four (Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany) are currently holding talks in Berlin. The focus of the negotiations is implementation of the February 12 Minsk agreements, especially their political part. The talks were preceded by expert consultations earlier in the day.