Donbass Offers Kiev to Set Up Joint Working Group to Reform Constitution

Leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) offered Kiev to establish a joint working group to reform the Ukrainian constitution.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) have offered Kiev to set up a joint working group to reform the Ukrainian constitution, a statement published on the Luhansk Information Center's website said Monday.

"We offer the head of Ukraine's Constitutional Commission Volodymyr Groysman to establish a joint working group. Earlier, we have offered concrete proposals to begin cooperating. So far it has not happened," the statement read.

The DPR and LPR leaders offered Groysman to include the representatives of Ukraine's Constitutional Commission into this working group, given that Donetsk and Luhansk representatives will also be included, the statement added.

According to the statement, the authorities of the self-proclaimed republics also decided to establish a cross-sectoral commission on the reform of Ukraine's constitution and further coordination of the republics' constitutional law.

In early March, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree on the establishment of a constitutional commission that will work out the changes to the country's constitution taking into account the challenges and needs the society is facing. Representatives of various political forces and civil society, as well as Ukrainian and international experts are expected to be involved in the process.

According to the Ukrainian leader, the signing of the decree marks the beginning of an important stage in constitutional reform aiming to preserve Ukraine's integrity.