Donetsk's Malorossiya Initiative 'Inconsistent With Minsk Agreements'

The east Ukrainian self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) leader's initiative on a new federal state called Malorossiya diverges from the reconciliation process, Chairman of the Russian upper house of parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev told Sputnik on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — All Donbass problems should be settled within the framework of Minsk deal, he said.

Earlier in the day, Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of DPR, proposed a three-year transition period toward a new state called Malorossiya ("Little Russia") as a way to settle the conflict in the region.

"This is an unexpected initiative, and from my point of view, it diverges from the general line of actions prescribed by the Minsk agreements… The solution of the problems of Donbass, which have accumulated and are often urgent, has been initially and continues to be within the Minsk process agreed by all sides, and not within the unilateral initiatives announced today," Kosachev said.

However, the emotions of people in Eastern Ukraine, who have been "tired of Kiev authorities' inaction," are understandable, the lawmaker added.

The leadership of the People’s Republic of Luhansk (LPR) said that it was not informed about the new initiative, while, LPR parliament speaker Denis Pushilin noted that the establishment of Malorossiya is just an idea, which is ambiguously perceived in the DPR itself.

Earlier in the day, Russia's envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine Boris Gryzlov also said that the new initiative did not fit into the Minsk reconciliation process.

DPR alongside LPR, was proclaimed by the local authorities on the territory of Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region in 2014 amid the local residents’ protests against the Kiev authorities which had come to power by what many consider to be a coup.