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Kiev denies compromise opportunities offered by self-proclaimed republics

The constitutional amendments suggested by the self-proclaimed DPR and LPRepublic presume that they will remain part of Ukraine but not in the confederative or federative status, with broader autonomy

MOSCOW, July 6 /TASS/. The draft of amendments to Ukraine’s constitution submitted by the self-proclaimed republics (the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic) offer a broad opportunity of a compromise. But, the Kiev government does not seem to be ready for any concessions, a Russian expert said on Monday.

"The constitutional amendments suggested by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic presume that they will remain part of Ukraine but not in the confederative or federative status. In fact, the proposals suggest broad autonomy," Nikolay Silayev, senior research associate of the Center for Caucasus Studies of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), said at a roundtable meeting held in TASS.

Silayev said it would be very hard for the DPR and LPR to fully return under Ukraine’s jurisdiction at least for the reason that there had been an armed conflict, which needs to be smoothed. That explains the presence of clauses about people’s police force and others in the draft document. "In short, there is an opportunity for a very broad compromise. But we do not see this readiness for compromise on Kiev’s part," Silayev went on to say.

"Any state that has ever faced this kind of fragmentation would be happy to accept these amendments. Kiev may not be realizing to the end what favorable terms have been offered to it," the expert stressed.

The Ukrainian conflict is not the first in the post-Soviet territory. "But today a unique situation has evolved with account taken of the stances and compromises, which have already been reached. What makes the current situation so unique, is that compared to South Ossetia, Abkhazia and other places, negotiations about the future status are already under way. At all the previous similar talks the status discussion was put off infinitely and the status question was the limit of any possible agreement, the expert stressed.

"Besides, there is formal international consensus on the nature of settlement and the procedure; there is institutional involvement of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which has never happened in the post-Soviet space," Silayev said.

"There is consensus between Russia and the European Union, and even the United States has said something in favour of the Minsk process," Silayev added. "It is also important that the DPR and LPR are not making any territorial claims for their part," he said.