Zelenskyy's Office Amends Version Of Normandy Four Communique On Presidential Website

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2019) The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has adjusted the Ukrainian version of the joint communique adopted at the recent Normandy Four negotiations in Paris after allegations that the translation was distorting the document.

Earlier in the day, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, accused Kiev of distorting the meaning of the Normandy Four's communique and said that Donetsk would not implement the decisions until the Ukrainian authorities adjusted the text.

In the original version, released by the president's office on the day of the talks, the second paragraph, which concerns the implementation of the political provisions of the Minsk Accords, mentioned the law on Donbas' special status. The version read that the parties to the negotiations expressed interest in reaching agreements within the Normandy Format and the Trilateral Contact Group "on all legal aspects of the law on the special order of local self-government in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

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The adjusted version of the communique does not mention the law and the version reads that the sides showed interest in agreements "on all legal aspects of the special order of local self-government in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions."

It is not clear when the changes were made to the text.

Chairman of the political council of Ukraine's Opposition Platform � For Life party and Ukrainian lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk said that Kiev deliberately made a mistake in the translation of the communique to the Ukrainian language to twist the meaning of the document.

On Monday, the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine met in Paris in the Normandy format after a three-year hiatus to discuss the settlement of the Donbas crisis. The summit adopted the joint communique that outlines the next steps in the peace process, including an "all for all" exchange of conflict-related detainees and the implementation of a ceasefire by the end of the year, as well as the coordination of new areas for the disengagement of forces.