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Kiev to consider Donbass status after Normandy Four summit — parliament speaker

He said Ukraine’s territorial integrity will be the "red line" for the Kiev government

© Pyotr Sivkov/TASS

KIEV, November 19. /TASS/. The Ukrainian authorities will review legislative acts regarding the status of eastern Ukraine’s region of Donbass, after the upcoming meeting of the Normandy Four leaders (Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine), the Ukrainian parliament speaker said.

"After the return of [Ukrainian] President Vladimir Zelensky from the meeting of the Normandy Four leaders, we will start drafting legislative acts related to the status of Donbass. A broad discussion will be held with the participation of the parliament and the civil society," Verkhovna Rada Speaker Dmitry Razumov said.

He said Ukraine’s territorial integrity will be the "red line" for the Kiev government during the discussions.

At the same time, the parliament speaker said he was puzzled by recent remarks of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadim Pristayko, who advised the Ukrainian president to travel to the Normandy Four summit with some blueprints regarding the status of Donbass.

"I don’t quite understand those statements by the minister. The thing is that all kinds of blueprints will be compiled only after the Normandy Four meeting," he said.

On November 15, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron informed that the Normandy Four summit would take place on December 9, 2019 in Paris.

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, contrary to the Minsk agreements and without consent or coordination with the Donetsk and Lugansk leadership, Poroshenko introduced 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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