Kyiv rejects Russia’s demands to include Donbas special status in Ukrainian Constitution
Ukraine is not considering amending the Constitution to consolidate the legal status of certain regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, stated Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in an interview with Syohodni news outlet.
"When Russia is not satisfied with the provision of some Ukrainian law or a bill, it is a problem of Russia. We are an independent state and we will pass the laws that we see fit. We respect our international obligations and always correlate our legislation with international obligations, but no country can tell us what the law should be. We do not run a service for satisfying other countries’ wishes," Kuleba said.
The Minister stressed that Ukraine has been implementing decentralization reform for several years, and, as part of the reform, legislation is being adopted, changes to the Constitution are being made, and it is within this process that the powers of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk regions can be considered.
"As for mentioning the so-called LPR and DPR in the Constitution, it is unacceptable for us and we are openly talking about it with our partners," Kuleba added.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister noted that he expects that Russia will take a constructive position on the Minsk agreements and will start with the first and most important rule of the Minsk agreements - a full and comprehensive ceasefire.
"Any attempts to alter the Minsk agreements, interpret them in such a way that the reintegration takes place on Russian terms, are doomed to failure," Kuleba concluded.
Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister called on the Russian ambassador to the OSCE to clarify whether statements of the Russian Representative in the Trilateral Contact Group, Boris Gryzlov, mean that Russia intends to withdraw from the Minsk agreements.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said that Kyiv had abandoned the Berlin agreements. In Berlin, an understanding was reached on three fronts, but at the talks in the trilateral contact group, representatives of Ukraine disavowed them, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.