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Kremlin says it’s unclear how Kiev will coordinate Donbass status law with DPR, LPR

Earlier, Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Dmitry Razumkov said in an interview with Focus magazine that the Verkhovna Rada would start working on the new law on a special status of Donbass after holding the Normandy Four

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, November 17. /TASS/. The parties to the Normandy Four have no understanding how Kiev will agree on a new law on a special status of Donbass with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"This is a cornerstone law, and it’s vital that it should be coordinated with the DPR and LPR, and so far Kiev has been ruling out any direct contacts. How will they agree on it and in what format? So, more questions will arise then," Peskov said.

According to Peskov, the Normandy Four group expects that Ukraine has the understanding on what steps it should take in the future and what to do with this law.

Earlier, Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Dmitry Razumkov said in an interview with Focus magazine that the Verkhovna Rada would start working on the new law on a special status of Donbass after holding the Normandy Four (Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia) summit.

Back in October 2014, Ukraine’s former President Pyotr Poroshenko signed a law on self-governance in certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics, establishing a special status there for three years. However, the law was never implemented in Ukraine.

In March 2015, Poroshenko violated the Minsk agreements, introducing amendments to the law, which actually halted its implementation. The law, which has been extended by Ukraine’s authorities many times, will expire on December 31, 2019.

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