DONETSK (Sputnik) — The chances of local elections being held in Ukraine’s Donbass region this year are negligible due to Kiev’s stance, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic's (DPR’s) negotiator for Ukrainian reconciliation talks, Denis Pushilin, told Sputnik.
"If Ukraine wanted to agree on the election law it [Kiev] would have already done so. That's why, the chances of holding elections this year are negligible," Pushilin said.
The law on holding elections in the breakaway eastern Ukrainian regions was one of the cornerstones of the Minsk peace deal, which was agreed in early 2015 by Germany, Russia, France and Ukraine.
In late April, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said that the Ukrainian authorities were ready to pass a law on elections in Donbas and hold them during the summer. Earlier in June, DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko said that Kiev must decide on holding the elections in the DPR by July 14.
