Russia opposes Ukraine's bill on reintegration of the Donbas
Boris Gryzlov, the permanent representative of Russia to the Trilateral Contact Group, which was formed to facilitate the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine, said that the bill on the reintegration of the Donbas is an attempt to destroy the Minsk agreements.
“At today's meeting of the contact group, the participants could not ignore the bill of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to reintegrate Donbass. According to the available information, this bill being worked up in Kyiv is aimed at creating an alternative to the UN-approved Minsk agreements,” Gryzlov told reporters in Minsk, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine.
He asserts that the bill does not provide for granting special status to Donbass, which is “in force through Steinmeier's formula,” amnesty and elections.
“In other words, this bill does not provide for a comprehensive political solution to the problem. Instead of a political solution, emphasis is placed on a military one,” Gryzlov said.
He called the revision of the Minsk agreements “unacceptable and dangerous.”
Ukrainian authorities are developing a law on de-occupation of Donbass, which will abolish the regime of the antiterrorist operation (ATO). The text of the bill is not yet available; however, according to the authorities, the document recognizes the uncontrolled territories as occupied and will introduce a new legal regime to protect the country from a hybrid war with Russia.
President Petro Poroshenko said that the bill will not violate the Minsk agreements.