DPR calls another round of talks in political subgroup on Donbas fruitless
DONETSK. July 5 (Interfax) - Negotiations of the political subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on Donbas in Minsk failed to produce significant results, and Ukraine continues to avoid the issue of Donbas' special status, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said.
"Ukrainian representatives ignore our suggestions based on provisions of the Minsk Package, international law, and compromises agreed by the Normandy format and provide their own, absolutely unsubstantiated interpretation of the Minsk Agreements instead," the DPR's acting Foreign Minister Natalya Nikanorova said in a statement provided by her press service.
The current agenda, which was repeatedly confirmed by the TCG and envisages the compromise order of giving effect to the law on Donbas' special status as the first and fundamental point, is reasonable and meets consistency in the implementation of the Minsk Package's provisions to the fullest extent, she said.
"Essentially, avoiding the discussion of the subject of granting a special status to our territory is nothing but Kyiv's deliberate evasion of fulfilling the assumed obligations," Nikonorova said.
"Unfortunately, the mechanism, which had been twice confirmed by the Normandy format leaders, including Ukraine, fails to find support and approval by Ukrainian representatives in the working group. This destructive stance prevents [us] from talking about the existence of Kyiv's actual intentions to settle the conflict by diplomatic means," she said.
Addressing the issues in other directions has no stable foundation and is not substantial and long-term in the absence of clear political prospects negotiated by the parties, she said.
"Therefore, we demand that representatives of Ukraine begin constructive and consistent discussion of the Minsk Agreements' political package, on the implementation of which fates of thousands of Donbas residents depend," she said.