MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s statements about Kiev’s potential withdrawal from the Normandy Four group is theatrics, as these ultimatums just alienate the republics of Donbass, Chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky told reporters on Saturday.
"Zelensky’s threats to quit the Normandy talks unless ‘something changes in Donbass’ are simply playing to the gallery. To get something changed, Kiev should have long begun implementing the Minsk accords, and first and foremost, their political provisions stipulated in Item 11 of the Package of Measures, which envisages the adoption of legislation on the special status of Donbass in law, amnesty and the amendment on decentralization to the constitution," the lawmaker said.
According to Slutsky, "theatrical ultimatums can simply alienate the DPR and LPR [the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk - TASS] along with the new Ukrainian authorities’ conversations about the need to revise the Minsk-2."
Their endeavor "to sever ties without admitting own inability to implement them and by shifting the blame on the other party" is a contagious disease, Slutsky said.
"Kiev should grasp that there is no alternative to the Minsk agreements concerning the settlement in Donbass," he concluded.
Earlier, in an interview with the UK’s Guardian Zelensky announced a one-year deadline for the conflict to be solved and warned of quitting the Normandy Four talks in case no results followed over that period. "If it lasts longer, we need to change the format and choose another strategy," the Ukrainian president warned adding that the one-year deadline dates from the December summit.
Peace settlement of the conflict in Donbass rests on the Package of Measures, known as Minsk-2, that was signed by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising senior representatives from Russia, Ukraine and the European security watchdog OSCE on February 12, 2015, after marathon 16-hour talks between the leaders of the Normandy Four nations, namely Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine. The 13-point document envisages a ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and people’s militias in the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Lugansk and subsequent withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of engagement. The deal also lays out a roadmap for a lasting settlement in Ukraine, including amnesty, resumption of economic ties, local elections and a constitutional reform to give more autonomy to the war-torn eastern regions.