Donetsk Republic Leader's 'Malorossiya' Proposal His Own Initiative - Kremlin

The proposal of the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko, on the establishment of the Malorossiya state is his personal initiative, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of east Ukraine's self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk (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. Noting that discussions within the DPR had "come to the conclusion that Ukraine has shown itself as a failed state," he called on the international community to support his proposal.

Russian envoy to the Contact Group on the Ukrainian settlement, Boris Gryzlov, said that the DPR leader's proclamation of a new state called Malorossiya doesn't fit in the Ukrainian reconciliation process as part of the Minsk deal, adding that it "is not a subject of realpolitik."

"Zakharchenko's statement, made this morning on the topic of Malorossiya, is his personal initiative, Moscow learned about this from the media reports this morning. We remain committed to Minsk agreements," Peskov told journalists.

Following DPR's announcement, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko vowed to restore sovereignty over Donbass.

Germany and France condemned the move with Berlin calling the proposal "absolutely unacceptable" and Paris urging Russia to condemn the DPR's decision.