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Contact Group on Ukraine does not discuss draft laws on election in Donbass - Kiev’s envoy

Kiev’s envoy to the political sub-group Roman Bessmertny noted that Kiev’s positions at the negotiations table remains unchanged

KIEV, March 2. /TASS/. The Contact Group on the settlement on Ukrainian crisis has not discussed any draft laws on election in Donbass at meetings in Minsk, Kiev’s envoy to the political sub-group Roman Bessmertny said on Wednesday.

"Until now, only modalities of the election have been discussed in Minsk. No one ever talked about any draft laws in Minsk," Bessmertny told 5 Channel.

He noted that Kiev’s positions at the negotiations table remains unchanged. According to Bessmertny, the first three points of the Minsk Agreements on ceasing fire, withdrawing weaponry and registering ceasefire violations by observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will represent the resolution of the security issues.

"Only after this, we can actively work on the document (on local election) and explain to Ukrainian parliamentarians why they should vote for it. This logic was present in the speech of German Foreign Minister Mr Stainemeier, this logic was voiced at the opening of the Ukrainian week in the European Parliament, and it was voiced also in yesterday’s statements by US state secretary and vice-president," Bessmertny said.

Local election in Donbass is envisaged by the Minsk accords signed on 12 February 2015, 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 Pyotr Poroshenko. The package of measures also envisages ceasefire, weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, constitutional reform in Ukraine and establishing working sub-groups on security, political, economy and humanitarian components of the Minsk accords.