MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Kiev’s representatives tried to prove that the Donbass reintegration law, passed by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) is not at odds with the Minsk Agreements, representative of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) to the political subgroup of the Contact Group on Ukraine Rodion Miroshnik told TASS following the Group’s meeting.
"Kiev’s representatives tried to prove that this law is not at odds with the Package of Measures [for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements] by putting forward absurd initiatives," he said.
Miroshnik pointed out that the law in question contained some provisions that ran directly counter to the Minsk Agreements. "The law substitutes the parties to the conflict, designating Russia as an aggressor and the Donbass republics’ authorities as "Russian occupying administration". It also impedes the possibility of an amnesty and elections," he added. According to the LPR envoy, "the law runs contrary to numerous Ukrainian laws as well as to international law, it is completely politicized and proves that Ukraine is prone to ignore its obligations under the Minsk Agreements," he said.
Miroshnik noted that at the recent meeting, Kiev had attempted to depict Russia as a party to the conflict based on its own translation of the Minsk Agreements into English.
Donbass reintegration law
On January 18, the Verkhovna Rada passed a bill dubbed "On special aspects of state policy aimed at ensuring Ukraine’s state sovereignty over temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions," which had been submitted by the country’s President Pyotr Poroshenko and is known as the Donbass reintegration bill. The document claims the areas not controlled by Kiev to be "temporarily occupied" and gives the president the right to use the armed forces inside the country without the parliament's consent. It also provides for setting up joint operation headquarters of the Ukrainian armed forces to control all military units and military-civil administrations in the conflict zone. In addition, all references to the Minsk Agreements were removed from the document.