KIEV, September 2. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has officially disbanded the Ukrainian delegation at the Contact Group seeking peace for eastern Ukraine, according to the decrees posted on the president’s website on Thursday.

"Decree No. 167/2020 of the President of Ukraine dated May 5, 2020 ‘On the delegation of Ukraine participating in the Trilateral Contact Group’ shall be declared null and void," the document reads.

In general, Thursday’s decree abolishes six presidential decrees of 2020-2021 on the work of the Ukrainian delegation at the Contact Group and the delegation’s composition. The decree enters into effect on the day of its publication.

Contact Group

Thanks to the Contact Group consisting of representatives of Russia, the OSCE and Ukraine, negotiations were held at various levels in the Normandy Four group (Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France). As a result, agreements on the roadmap for a peace settlement and ceasefire in Donbass (known as the Minsk accords) were sealed in September 2014 and February 2015.

A significant provision of the agreements was the requirement that Ukraine carry out reforms on decentralization, including a law on the special status of certain areas in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions within the country. Under the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, the special status of Donbass provided, in particular, for the right to linguistic self-determination for residents of the region, the establishment of a people’s militia, and an amnesty for all participants in the armed conflict. The Minsk accords, which were endorsed by a UN Security Council resolution, are binding.

Nevertheless, the negotiation process has actually stalled due to Kiev’s refusal to implement "the political provisions" of the Minsk peace deal. Kiev deliberately dragged out the talks at the Contact Group under President Pyotr Poroshenko (who was in office in 2014-2919) and then after Vladimir Zelensky took office in 2019. In particular, Kiev was reluctant to build any direct dialogue with the DPR and LPR and enshrine the region’s special status in the constitution, but demanded its control over Donbass’ border with Russia. However, in accordance with the Package of Measures, the handover procedure was supposed to begin only after local elections take place in the region.

Donbass crisis

Tensions escalated along the contact line in Donbass on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR respectively) reported the heaviest shelling by Ukraine in months. On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees on recognizing the DPR and LPR. Russia recognized the two republics within the administrative borders of Donetsk and Lugansk regions as they were at the beginning of 2014 stipulated in their constitutions.

On February 24, Putin launched a special military operation in Ukraine following a request for help from the leaders of two Donbass republics. The DPR and LPR mounted an operation to liberate their areas that were controlled by Kiev.