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DPR envoy says no need in formalizing extension of Minsk Agreements for 2016

According to Denis Pushilin, the Package of measures was not fully implemented as no agreement was reached on holding local election in separate parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions

DPR envoy to Contact Group Denis Pushilin Alexandr Sherbak/TASS

DPR envoy to Contact Group Denis Pushilin

© Alexandr Sherbak/TASS

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Ukraine’s Opposition Bloc says Kiev has not fulfilled its Minsk accords commitments

MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics (DPR and LPR) do not think it is necessary to formalize the extension of the Package of measures of the Minsk Agreements for 2016, DPR envoy to Contact Group Denis Pushilin told TASS on Thursday.

Pushilin said that the Package of measures was not fully implemented as no agreement was reached on holding local election in separate parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions.

"There were not elections. Consequently, the situation looks like we did not have any other option than to postpone it to 2016. Consequently, there is complete understanding that there is no need in formalization, to additionally sign the document," Pushilin added.

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Minsk agreements on Ukraine

The Minsk accords were signed on February 12, after negotiations in the so-called "Normandy format" in the Belarusian capital Minsk, bringing together Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

The Minsk accords envisage ceasefire, weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local election in Donbas, constitutional reform in Ukraine and establishing working sub-groups on security, political, economy and humanitarian components of the Minsk accords.

The Ukrainian forces and the self-defense forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics have repeatedly accused each other of violating ceasefire and other points of the Minsk agreements.

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