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Ukrainian lawmaker claims Ukraine ‘did not sign anything’ at meeting in Minsk

On Tuesday, a source close to the negotiations told TASS that Ukrainian envoy Leonid Kuchma signed the document approved earlier by the aides to Normandy Four leaders

Head of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Affairs Bogdan Yaremenko AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov

Head of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Affairs Bogdan Yaremenko

© AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov

KIEV, October 2. /TASS/. Head of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) Committee on Foreign Affairs Bogdan Yaremenko stated that Ukraine "did not sign anything" on the outcomes of yesterday’s Contact Group session in Minsk, during which the so-called Steinmeier formula on granting a special status to Donbass was approved.

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Ukrainian delegation signs Steinmeier formula during session of Contact Group

"Yesterday, no one signed anything," the UNIAN news agency quotes Yaremenko’s post on Facebook. "Ukraine’s envoy to the group Leonid Kuchma informed OSCE envoy Martin Sajdik in writing that Ukraine is content with the formula approved by the aides to the Normandy Four leaders in Minsk on September 1, 2019," he explained.

The Ukrainian lawmaker also stressed that the Kiev government does not plan to abandon its principles, including Ukraine’s integrity and sovereignty, as well as the right of Kiev "to interpret the Minsk Agreements in its own way." He added that Ukraine is moving towards the end of bloodshed in Donbass.

During a meeting on Tuesday, all members of the Contact Group for settlement in eastern Ukraine signed the Steinmeier formula, a source close to the negotiations told TASS. According to the source, Ukrainian envoy Leonid Kuchma signed the document approved earlier by the aides to Normandy Four leaders. Representatives of Russia, Donbass republics and the OSCE also signed the document.

The formula was supposed to be signed during the previous meeting of the Contact Group on September 18. However, at the last moment, the Ukrainian delegation refused to ink the formula approved earlier, making other participants in the talks doubt Kiev’s commitment to establishing an order of legal consolidation of the special status demanded in the Minsk Agreements.

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