Ukraine's Donetsk Region Hopes For Another Deal On Separation Of Forces In Donbas

DONETSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd October, 2019) An additional agreement on the separation of forces in the conflict-ridden southeastern regions of Ukraine is expected in the near future, self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Foreign Minister and envoy to the Contact Group on Ukraine Natalia Nikonorova said.

"We hope that Ukrainian representatives will approach the fulfillment of their obligations with full responsibility. We also hope that in the near future an addition to the framework agreement will be signed, which will allow to move further in the realization of the framework agreement, including making agreements on new locations [of troop separation]," Nikonorova said on Tuesday, as quoted in a DPR Foreign Ministry release.

On Tuesday, representatives of the Contact Group on Ukraine met in the Belarusian capital of Minsk and signed an agreement on a peace plan called "the Steinmeier formula.

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The plan, proposed by then German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in 2016, stipulates that the parties involved in the internal conflict in Ukraine should arrange free and fair local elections in the southeast (Donbas) and a new law must be passed granting them special status.

According to Nikonorova, a particular schedule of forces separation in southeastern Ukraine was agreed on Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Tuesday that a new law on the special status of Donbas would be prepared soon and that it would come into effect provided that local elections are held in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.