Contact Group political subgroup fails to reach consensus on Steinmeier Formula - DPR foreign ministry
DONETSK. Sept 7 (Interfax) - Participants of the political subgroup of the Contact Group for Ukrainian settlement met in Minsk to discuss possible modality of the Donbas elections, failing to reach consensus on other issues, the acting foreign minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). Natalya Nikanorova said.
"Today, Ukraine once again reported on "meeting all conditions with regard to introduction of the Steinmeier Formula and realization of the Constitutional Reform. I got the impression that our opponents are not familiar with the contents of this formula, because the applicable version of the law on the special status of our region contradicts Steinmeier's proposals and does not specify for any procedure of enactment of the law on a permanent basis," Nikanorova told Interfax on Wednesday.
The negotiators for Ukraine once again refused to allow the constitutional reform to be considered by the representatives of the self-proclaimed republics in terms of their possible consent, which fundamentally contradicts the Package of Measures, she said.
"Only one item from the announced elections modality agenda was discussed. It is the financing of electoral campaigns. The Ukrainian side never voiced its official position, replacing it with a simple recitation of the basic principles applied in free democratic elections," Nikanorova said.
