Donbas Republics Urge Contact Group to Press Kiev on Decentralisation

The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics asked the Contact Group to remind Kiev of its obligation to follow the peace plan and grant them more autonomy.

DONETSK (Sputnik) – Contact Group on Ukrainian reconciliation should remind Kiev to adopt a law granting a higher degree of autonomy to the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the regions' representatives said in a statement on Monday.

The envoys of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR, LPR), Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego, said that the reconciliation agreement reached in Minsk earlier set the deadline for Kiev to adopt a resolution granting special political and economic status to Donbas for March 14.

The Contact Group on Ukraine comprises negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, DPR, LPR and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

"We are asking you [Contact Group] to remind [Ukrainian President] Petro Poroshenko, [Prime Minister] Arseniy Yatsenyuk and [Chairman of parliament] Volodymyr Groysman of the necessity to follow the Minsk peace plan and internal laws of Ukraine," the statement reads.

According to the envoys, delaying the special status' assigning would complicate the peace process in the conflict-torn eastern Ukraine, and call into question Kiev's willingness to find a political settlement.

On February 12, the Contact Group, signed a ceasefire deal for eastern Ukraine. One of its points is the introduction of a permanent legislation granting a special status to "certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions" within 30 days since the signing of the agreement.