“We have seen the document on Kuchma’s authority and we no longer have any issues of his authority,” Denis Pushilin said during a press conference.
The issues of Kuchma's authority as a legitimate representative of Kiev have been raised during Contact Group talks on Ukrainian reconciliation on January 31. Envoys of the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk republics (DPR and LPR) pointed out that the former Ukrainian president has never been appointed to any official post and has no mandate or authority to sign a reconciliation agreement on behalf of the Ukrainian government.
The Trilateral Contact Group comprises DPR and LPR envoys, Kiev, Moscow and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Last week, the group signed a deal, reached by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany, stipulating ceasefire, weapons withdrawal, constitutional changes in Ukraine and a prisoner swap.
Last September, the warring sides reached a ceasefire agreement at a Contact Group meeting in Minsk. Kuchma represented Kiev in negotiations last fall.
