MOSCOW. April 7 (Interfax) - Representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics have posted a joint statement threatening to halt negotiations with Kyiv unless working groups promoting the peace process in Donbas are started up in the near future.
"Consistent with the provisions of the February package of measures [approved at the Minsk negotiations on February 11-12], the DPR and the LPR have done their best for the soonest launch of working subgroups in four areas, namely, economic matters and restorations, refugees, displaced persons and humanitarian issues, political matters, and security," the DPR and the LPR said in the statement posted on the Donetsk news agency website.
"Unless a real work rather than imitation starts in the aforesaid areas shortly, it will be clear to everyone that we, representatives of Donbas, have been deceived once again," the news agency quoted the negotiators, Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego, as saying.
That will show that the real goal of Kyiv is not the peaceful settlement but the full siege on Donbas, they said. "We cannot and will not take part in this farce," the negotiators of the self-proclaimed republics said.
The negotiators said they should not agree to form one or two subgroups and delay the formation of the others.
"As we can see, Kyiv is trying to avoid resolution of economic problems in Donbas and a reform of the Ukrainian political system coordinated with the DPR and the LPR," the statement said.
Deinego and Pushilin insist that each of the four working subgroups be launched simultaneously.
"There is no trust in Kyiv after the shameful Rada vote on March 17 which overruled the special economic and political status promised by Poroshenko to Donbas residents. Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk will not be able to deceive everyone again," they said.