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Militia leader not sure if unrecognized Luhansk republic will remain part of "new Ukraine"

Leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk republic says LPR won't be part of Ukraine if Ukrainian people consider militias terrorists, separatists and enemies
Head of self-proclaimed Luhansk republic Igor Plotnitsky  Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS
Head of self-proclaimed Luhansk republic Igor Plotnitsky
© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. Ukraine's self-proclaimed Luhansk republic is considering an option of being part of the new Ukraine following the Minsk agreements implementation but only time will show whether it will be in the same boat with Kiev, LPR head Igor Plotnitsky said on Wednesday.

"Will we be part of Ukraine? This depends on what kind of Ukraine it will be. If it remains like it is now, we will never be together," the Luhansk republic’s leader told journalists.

If the Kiev authorities carry out the reforms envisaged in the February 12 set of measures on implementing the Minsk agreements, then this will be another country, Plotnitsky explained.

Then this is "possible," he said, adding: "We’ll see what the outcome will be."

"We have never said that we are fighting against the people of Ukraine. Everything depends on who our people and our neighbors are. If we are terrorists, separatists and enemies for them, then they are not our brothers," he said.

Should the political regime change in Ukraine, then people will open their eyes and see what really is happening in the world and not what intentionally is put in their heads, and "then we will see who we are with," Plotnitsky said.

"Our people have had a say, we have held a referendum [in May]. We favor the separation from the current Ukraine. Time will show whether we will be part of the future, new and renewed Ukraine. But today we are determined at a clear and tough understanding where we are going," he said.

On February 12, the participants of the Contact Group in Minsk signed a document agreed at a summit in the Belarusian capital on the same day between the leaders of the Normandy Four (Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine) envisaging ceasefire from February 15 as part of the priority goals.