MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/. The preservation of Ukraine’s non-bloc status and the official status of the Russian language are fundamental demands, envoy of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) to the Contact Group Denis Pushilin told the Rossiya 1 TV channel.
"For us it’s a key issue," Pushilin said. "Ukraine’s non-aligned status will allow to maintain the current situation and prevent it from growing into the third world war. "It’s our principled stand," he noted.
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Speaking about the official status of the Russian language, the envoy said, "This is our mother tongue, we are used to speaking it, there’s no alternative to it."
Earlier on Wednesday, representatives of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk have sent head of Ukraine’s Constitution Commission Volodymyr Groysman and Contact Group members the draft amendments, which consolidate the special status of the Donbas region.
The proposed draft provides for "setting up people’s militia units controlled by the local authorities, the official status of the Russian language, a special economic regime and other rights." It also envisages a possibility of concluding a package of treaties and agreements between Ukraine’s authorities and Donbas. It contains amendments to the Constitution on the judicial system, the prosecutor’s office, local self-government and the administrative-territorial system of Ukraine. The document also provides for Ukraine’s non-aligned status enshrined in the country’s Constitution.
According to Pushilin, there has been no response yet to the draft amendments from the Ukrainian side.