DONETSK. Dec 5 (Interfax) - Kyiv is blocking negotiations in the political subgroup and refusing to implement a special status for Donbas, especially with regard to the Steinmeier formula, which is the best way to break the deadlock in talks, the acting Foreign Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Nataliya Nikonorova, said.
"The Ukrainian side is disregarding the need to discuss the primary issue on the agenda. Ukrainian negotiators are actually blocking the negotiating process through the absence of a common position and the lack of coordination of their actions at different levels," Nikonorova said in an official statement posted on the DPR Foreign Ministry website.
"Ukrainian members of the working group refuse to work on the agenda unanimously approved for the contact group, including by Leonid Kuchma. Also, despite the fact that the procedure for enacting the special status for Donbas was twice finalized by President Poroshenko in the Normandy format, they refuse to confirm this formula in Minsk," Nikonorova said.
Kyiv is trying to convince negotiators and the world community that it approaches the Minsk process with a good attitude, but Ukrainian representatives' actions point to the opposite, she said.
"At present, the republics have already met them halfway, having agreed on the procedure proposed for granting the Donbas a special status, and we are expecting reciprocal steps from the second party to the conflict. Should Kyiv continue to intentionally ignore its obligations to implement the Steinmeier formula, twice approved by the leaders of the Normandy format, it will be difficult to support the negotiating process further," Nikonorova said.
This issue is a basis for a discussion of all political issues, and determining the mechanism of its enactment would pave the way for a peaceful settlement of the crisis, she said.
The Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine held a meeting in Minsk on Tuesday.