The DPR foreign minister says Kiev never stops trying to picture the
conflict as an international one.
MINSK, January 16. /TASS/. Kiev is dodging discussion of the possible
use of the implementation of the so-called Steinmeier formula as a key element
of political settlement of the Donbass conflict, acting Foreign Minister of the
self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Natalia Nikonorova said on
Monday.
"Formally accepting the Steinmeier formula, our opponents so far have no idea of their attitude to it and, hence, have no possibility to discuss concrete aspects of its implementation," she said after a regular meeting of the Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine. "So, we ultimately failed to begin consideration of the basic aspect of the implementation of the political package, the Steinmeier formula."
"Formally accepting the Steinmeier formula, our opponents so far have no idea of their attitude to it and, hence, have no possibility to discuss concrete aspects of its implementation," she said after a regular meeting of the Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine. "So, we ultimately failed to begin consideration of the basic aspect of the implementation of the political package, the Steinmeier formula."
Having no
official positions, Ukraine’s negotiators once again used their favorite
instruments such as equivocation and misinterpretation of the documents already
signed in order to change their logic, essence and sequence of the
implementation, she noted.
Moreover,
according to Nikonorova, Kiev never stops trying to picture the conflict as an
international one and refuses to discuss essential matters with representatives
of the self-proclaimed republics.
"Contrary to our hopes for progress in the negotiating process, we have to state that Ukraine keeps on dodging any constructive discussions and continues to ignore its liabilities to implement all provisions of the Package of Measures signed almost two years ago," she underscored.
In
a bid to find a way out of the deadlock situation when Kiev has been blocking a
law granting special status to Donbass, which is envisaged by the Minsk
agreements, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier suggested a special
procedure of its enforcement. Thus, special status will be granted to this
region of Ukraine first on a temporary basis on the day of local elections
there. Special status will be granted permanently after the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) publishes a report confirming the
legitimacy of election results. The idea, known as the Steinmeier formula, was
approved at by Normandy Four (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine) meeting in
Paris on October 2, 2015.
