Ukraine officially refused to implement the Minsk agreements
The Kyiv government is not going to make changes to the Constitution of Ukraine that are prescribed in the Minsk agreements, the implementation of which was previously guaranteed by Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadim Prystaiko stated this during a press conference, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“We remind you once again, the Russians constantly repeat this narrative. How is this written in the Minsk agreements? It says that a reform of Ukrainian legislation will be carried out, a constitutional reform based on decentralization. If Moscow cannot read this, we are ready to read it again: we are not making any changes to the Constitution, we are continuing our path of constitutional reform, which we ourselves are doing for Ukraine, and the basis of these changes is decentralization, which has been going on in Ukraine for many years quite successfully.
We invite the side that is now behind the contact line, which is not under the control of the Ukrainian government, to understand that the chance for their development is decentralization. They can unite communities, they can expect certain opportunities, in particular financial ones, like all regions and districts that are located in Ukraine. This is the maximum proposal that we are making - constitutional reform, which is based on decentralization. We are not introducing any special or non-special statuses into the Constitution,” the minister concluded.
This point of view was also supported by the US State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker, noting that no one abandoned the idea of the return of Donbass to Ukraine.
“If Russia hopes that by occupying Donbass, occupying territories, it will be able to weaken, divide or increase its influence on Ukraine, then this is not true. Ukraine is stronger, more united, more resilient, more democratic, and economic growth is heading toward the European Union. I would say that if you have young people going to the front and the Russians are shooting at them, then they will not come to an agreement with Russia, so Russia has reasons to look at how to get out of this conflict.
When we talk about incentives, there are sanctions; if we implement the Minsk agreements, then we will talk about lifting sanctions, but not before. When we extend our hand, we want to talk, we want to find a way to agreements with Russia. We can actually improve the situation for the lives of those people, achieve the goal that is outlined in the Minsk agreements, that this territory should return under Ukrainian control,” said the American official.
Let us recall that paragraph 11 of the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements signed by Kiev and approved by the UN Security Council states the following:
“Carrying out constitutional reform in Ukraine with the entry into force by the end of 2015 of a new constitution, which presupposes decentralization as a key element (taking into account the characteristics of individual regions of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, agreed upon with representatives of these regions), as well as the adoption of permanent legislation on the special status of individual districts of Donetsk and Lugansk regions in accordance with the measures specified in note 1, until the end of 2015."
Let us recall that earlier the new Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs had already demonstrated his Russophobic attitude, saying that Ukrainian happiness is allegedly interfered with by the Russian Federation, unwilling to come to terms with Kyiv’s policies.
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