MOSCOW, October 4. /TASS/. Russian Senator Alexei Pushkov believes that the special status law for Donbass should be coordinated with representatives of that region, in addition to Russia, as well as with France and Germany.
"Head of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada’s foreign policy committee [Bogdan] Yaremenko has called for coordinating the special status for Donbass with Russia. This is a sign of a new pragmatic approach, and not [ex-Ukrainian President Pyotr] Poroshenko-style convulsions. However, Russia is a mediator in the negotiations. This status also has to be agreed on with Paris, Berlin and, most importantly, with Donbass," Pushkov wrote in a Twitter post.
On Friday, Yaremenko said that Ukraine’s stance on enshrining the Donbass region’s special status into law would be coordinated with Moscow. He noted that "attempts to put the issue to a referendum could be viewed by Russia as an attempt [by Kiev] not to honor its commitments, and this could derail the peace agreements."
The Minsk accords reached on February 12, 2015, by the Normandy Four (Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France) leaders envisaged a cessation of hostilities. They also provided for a withdrawal of weapons, amnesty, a revival of economic ties, as well as Ukraine’s constitutional reform to furnish more autonomy to the war-torn region. However, this plan has not materialized so far because of Kiev’s stance.