BRUSSELS (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.
"This is against the objective of the Minsk agreements of the reintegration of certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk [Lugansk] regions in Ukraine. The European Union supports the ongoing diplomatic efforts to move towards complete implementation of the Minsk agreements, as the basis for a sustainable political solution to the conflict, based on respect for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity," the spokesperson said.
Germany and France condemned the move with Berlin calling the proposal "absolutely unacceptable" and Paris urging Russia to condemn the DPR's decision.
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."
