KIEV, April 18. /ITAR-TASS/. The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in Ukraine’s east refuses to recognize the agreements on the Ukrainian settlement reached in Geneva on April 17, one of the republic’s leaders, Denis Pushilin, told a news conference in Donetsk on Friday.
Pushilin claimed the Kiev authorities were not observing these agreements. “They are not withdrawing troops from the Donetsk region, so we cannot speak about any concession in such conditions,” he said. Before speaking about any compromise solutions, in his words, Kiev “must vacate seized buildings, unarm illegal groups, such as the National Guards and the Right Sector, and release political prisoners.” “We will be ready for a dialogue only when Kiev does it,” he stressed.
The Geneva consultations involving representatives from Ukraine, the United States, the European Union and Russia yielded an agreement that illegal armed groups were to vacate buildings they had seized and surrender arms. Diplomats also agreed that people who did this would be granted amnesty.