INTERFAX 18:53 23/09/2019
Luhansk threatens to start strengthening independence, integration with Russia in 'negotiation vacuum' situation with Kyiv
The Donbas republics will use the next five years "to continue creating their statehood, strengthening their independence, and increasing their economic and military potential "in the current negotiation vacuum," Vladislav Deinego, the foreign minister of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), said. "The result of such five years can be independence and full-fledged re-orientation to Russia, both politically and culturally, as well as in issues relating to full integration of industry, trade and legislation," Deinego said in a statement released on Monday.
The statement by Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak that the special status of Donbas is not a subject of talks in Minsk or in the Normandy Format contradicts Kyiv's previous statements on its commitment to the Minks agreements, he said. "The refusal to fulfill the obligations assumed by Ukraine in the Minsk talks de facto stated by Yermak fully contradicts all their previous statements on loyalty to Minsk, their intention and wish to implement the Minsk Agreements," Deinego said. "If that is the position of Zelensky, which was stated by Yermak, the conflict in Donbas will not be resolved as long as he and his team are in power," he said.
The special status of Donbas is the foundation of the political settlement of the conflict in the region," the LPR foreign minister said. "And achieving a consensus on its implementation is the essence of the negotiation process, without which a result cannot be achieved," the minister said. Earlier, Presidential Aide Andriy Yermak said in an interview with media outlet Livy Bereh: "We will definitely never allow federalization of our country to happen. We will definitely never allow the loss of our territories. We definitely want to stop the war. We definitely want to reintegrate Donbas into Ukraine. We definitely want Ukraine to be united. These are the main principles of the negotiating process."
