Luhansk envoy says it is impossible to implement Minsk-2 peace deal in 2015
Earlier on Friday, Poroshenko ruled out any possibility of extending the Minsk agreements into 2016
MOSCOW, September 11. /TASS/. Ukraine will not be able to implement all provisions of the Package of Measures on the Ukrainian settlement, the so-called Minsk-2, by the end of 2015 from the technical point of view, Vladislav Deinego, the representative of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) in the Contact Group on Ukraine, said on Friday.
He said that under Ukrainian laws constitutional amendments were executed in two phases, by two consecutive sessions of the parliament. The Verkhovna Rada (parliament) was through one phase but the amendments it adopted had not been agreed with representatives from the self-proclaimed republics which fact was a violation of the Minsk agreements, he noted.
"If he [Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko] thinks he can hold two Verkhovna Rada session by the end of 2015 - God help him. But we should be realistic. It is technically impossible to completely implement the Minsk-2 package this year," LuganskInformCentre quoted him as saying.
Deinego underscored that Ukraine had undertaken certain liabilities under the Minsk process and must either implement them or openly recognize it is unable to do that.
Earlier on Friday, Poroshenko ruled out any possibility of extending the Minsk agreements into 2016.
The Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising senior representatives from Russia, Ukraine and the European security watchdog OSCE on February 12, 2015, signed a 13-point Package of Measures to fulfil the September 2014 Minsk agreements.
The Package of Measures, known as Minsk-2, envisaged a ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and people’s militias in the self-proclaimed republic in Donetsk and Lugansk starting from February 15. The deal also laid out a roadmap for a lasting settlement in Ukraine, including local elections and constitutional reform to give more autonomy to the war-torn eastern regions.