“Steinmeier’s formula” gives guarantees of a peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbass, ignoring it, Kiev once again shows that it is not going to fulfill the Minsk agreements, Elena Panina, a member of the State Duma committee on international affairs, told RIA Novosti.
Earlier, Aleksey Arestovich, adviser on information policy of the Ukrainian delegation in the trilateral contact group on Donbass, said that the law on the special status of Donbass would most likely be prolonged, but without including the “Steinmeier formula” in it.
“The statement of the Ukrainian side shows once again that Kiev is not going to fulfill the Minsk agreements. The Steinmeier Formula is the most important element of the negotiation process, since it is it that guarantees that, instead of a peaceful settlement, Kiev will not suit another” ATO “(” anti-terrorist operation ” – ed.) “, – said Panina to the agency.
She noted that in this situation, Western sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation become absurd and meaningless, proceeding from the logic of their initiators that the sanctions were supposed to stimulate the Russian Federation to achieve a peaceful settlement.
“However, how can the Minsk agreements be implemented if the Ukrainian side demonstratively ignores them? It is time for our European partners to determine their attitude to Ukraine’s actions. Logically, either they convince Kiev of the need to implement the Minsk agreements in full, or it is time to lift sanctions from Russia “, – said the parliamentarian.
The law on the special status of Donbass was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in 2014, but was never put into effect. In the fall of 2018, the Ukrainian parliament extended it until the end of 2019, and after the meeting in Paris of the Normandy Four (Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine) in December 2019, the Verkhovna Rada at an extraordinary meeting extended the law until December 31, 2020. The contact group on Donbass in Minsk has agreed on the “Steinmeier formula” defining the procedure for the entry into force of the law on the special status of the region. After agreeing on the formula in the Ukrainian capital, as well as in a number of other cities, rallies were held by opponents of such a decision in Kiev.
Earlier, Arestovich said that the delegation had developed a “plan of joint steps”, which involves the withdrawal of “illegal groups and mercenaries” from Donbass in early 2021, which will allow local elections to be held in these territories on March 31. The head of the Ukrainian delegation, Leonid Kravchuk, said that Kiev had proposed an “action plan for Donbass” so that all members of the contact group would take part in developing a joint plan.
The plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation in the contact group on Donbass, Boris Gryzlov, has already stated that this plan contradicts the Minsk agreements and can be regarded as a step towards a complete rejection of them. According to him, “the presented draft plan is another imitation of the negotiation process with the only clearly expressed goal – the convocation of the next summit of the” Normandy format “.