DPR, LPR revoke constitution amendments mentioning Crimea, Sevastopol
MOSCOW. June 10 (Interfax) - The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics have decided to revoke additional amendments to the Ukrainian constitution mentioning Crimea and Sevastopol, which they presented to the Trilateral Contact Group two days ago, the Donetsk news agency has said.
"There is no doubt, the DPR and the LPR regard Crimea as a part of Russia. Moreover, our republics think it would be ideal to join the Russian Federation," said the report quoting the DPR and LPR negotiators, Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego, as saying.
The negotiators reiterated the validity of the other amendments.
"The mention of Crimea in the draft amendments we have proposed to individual articles of the current Ukrainian constitution has a purely technical and legal meaning; this mention does not have any substantive significance for the simple reason that Crimea is not and cannot be a subject of the Minsk negotiations. We suggest that Ukraine should accept the other amendments immediately," the report said.
The amendments mentioning Crimea and Sevastopol are being revoked "in order to avoid further speculation, as Ukrainian propaganda is trying present insignificant formalities as a political event," it said.
