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Donbass reintegration law shows Kiev’s disregard for reconciliation deals — Lugansk

The Ukrainian president signed into law on Tuesday

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. By signing the so-called Donbass reintegration bill, Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has demonstrated his country’s disregard for international reconciliation agreements, a negotiator for the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) has told TASS.

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"By signing the bill into law, Poroshenko, to put it mildly, has significantly narrowed the opportunity for reaching a political and diplomatic settlement to the Donbass conflict. Moreover, he did it with his own hands. By [signing] this law, he demonstrates total disregard for his international commitments, listed in the Complex of Measures to Implement the Minsk Agreements and sealed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2202. The bill openly blocks implementation of certain provisions by the Minsk Agreements," said Rodion Miroshnik, the LPR envoy to the political subgroup of the Contact Group.

The envoy added that the law "envisages criminal prosecution of those involved in the Donbass conflict, both militarily and by working in [DPR and LPR] state bodies, which violates provision six of the Complex of Measures."

It also "blocks local elections in Donbass republics, in breach of provision nine," he said.

"By doing this, Poroshenko, as a signatory to the Minsk agreements, defies their guarantors - Russia, France and Germany - and shows blatant disregard for UN Security Council decisions," Miroshnik said, adding that the move "should receive a political assessment on behalf of the above-mentioned states and organizations."

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president signed into law a bill dubbed "On certain aspects of state policy aimed at ensuring Ukraine’s state sovereignty over temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions," which is known as the Donbass reintegration law. The document will enter into force on the day of its publication.

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.

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