MOSCOW, June 25./TASS/. The political subgroup of the Contact Group for the settlement in Ukraine began a detailed discussion of the law on a special status for Donbass, Russian envoy to the group Boris Gryzlov said after an online conference earlier on Thursday.
"The political subgroup came to a detailed discussion of" the law on the special status," he said. "Let me reiterate that the main task envisaged by the Minsk agreements is to make the special status for Donbass permanent, as well as to enshrine it in the Ukrainian constitution," Gryzlov told journalists.
"Although none of the Ukrainian representatives can explain coherently what’s wrong with that for the country - we once again received refusal from Kiev’s representatives to enshrine the special status in the Ukrainian constitution," he stressed.
"Regretfully, suggestions from Donbass on the draft law on the special status that came a month earlier, are not taken into consideration by Ukrainian representatives," Gryzlov said. "However, Kiev and Donbass have started a dialogue, and work on amendments to the law must be continued in line with the letter and spirit of the Minsk accords," the envoy added.
The Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements signed on February 12, 2015, is the basis for all peace negotiations concerning the Donbass region. The Minsk Agreements include such measures as a ceasefire, disengagement of forces and equipment, amnesty, reestablishment of economic ties, along with thorough constitutional reform in Ukraine, which should lead to a special status for separate districts of the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions within Ukraine.
However, this hasn’t happened as of yet. The law on a special status earlier passed by Ukrainian parliament was frozen in essence, since amendments were introduced that run counter to the Minsk accords. Besides, the force of the law was limited to one year.