MOSCOW. Oct 17 (Interfax) - Luhansk does not think that Kyiv has made any progress by extending the law on the special status of Donbas, the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) representative to the political subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, Rodion Miroshnik, told reporters in Moscow.
"The law extending special status is a measure Ukraine has had to take. This is not a leap forward, this is a jump in place. It [the law] does not implement either the Package of Measures or the political package," Miroshnik said.
Luhansk is not optimistic regarding Kyiv's ability to implement the Package of Measures without being prompted to do so by political efforts of the guarantor countries.
"A month has passed since the law [extending the special status] was adopted. Now we may see a year pass," Miroshnik said.
Last year, "we tried to make progress with Ukraine in some areas, including the implementation of the so-called Steinmeier formula, which prescribes how the special status should take effect and how relations between Ukraine, on one hand, and the DPR and the LPR, on the other, would be regulated," he said.
"I am afraid we won't see any progress unless the guarantors demonstrate their explicit support and influence. There is a chance to settle the conflict and implement the Minsk Agreements if pressure is put on Kyiv and the guarantor countries render their support," Miroshnik said.
The foreign minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Natalia Nikonorova, reiterated the intention of the DPR and the LPR to seek the approval of a formula for implementation of the Package of Measures.
"The extension of the special status is a forced and formal move. These are formal norms and provisions, which extend only the first, declarative part of the special status law. We will insist on coordinating a formula, a mechanism to enforce this law," Nikonorova said.