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Ukraine’s Zelensky not ready to recognize special status of Donbass — opposition

So far, Kiev has refused to implement the political section of the Minsk agreements

KIEV, June 13. /TASS/. One of leaders of Ukraine’s Opposition Platform - For Life party, Viktor Medvedchuk, is convinced that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is not ready to recognize the special status of the country’s eastern regions.

"Zelensky is not ready to recognize the special status of Donbass, he is not going to sign the amnesty [law], has no plans to engage in direct talks with Russia. That’s why, at present, I really see no evidence that he and his team are truly seeking peace," Medvedchuk wrote in his Twitter on Wednesday.

The Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements on the settlement in the Donbass region was signed in February 2015 following the Normandy Four (France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine) summit. It stipulates a ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of engagement, the start of a dialogue on restoring social and economic ties between Kiev and the Donbass region along with the constitutional reform to decentralize power by granting a special status to certain districts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

However, Kiev refused to comply with the political provisions of the agreement, citing unsettled security issues as the reason.

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