DONETSK. July 31 (Interfax) - Ukraine is trying to contest the text of the Steinmeier formula, according to Natalia Nikonorova, the foreign affairs minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
"At every meeting we insist on the need to follow the negotiating logic and to finally begin a discussion of the procedure for enacting the law on the special status for Donbas on the basis of the Steinmeier formula, and granting amnesty," Nikonorova told journalists on Wednesday, commenting on today's meeting of the political subgroup in Minsk.
"However, Kyiv continues ignoring the Normandy-format instructions and what's more has been making attempts to contest the text of the Steinmeier formula, which demonstrates either a lack of understanding of the documents approved earlier or deliberate tricks to drag out the negotiating process. Instead of starting to work on the political agenda in earnest, the Ukrainian representatives have been sabotaging the process in a new way: by expressing doubts about the point of the special status and the very possibility of it being granted," Nikonorova said.
The conditions spelt out in the Package of Measures aimed at implementing the Minsk agreements must be strictly adhered to, as was prescribed by this document approved by the UN Security Council resolution, she said.
"Only such work can be deemed constructive and lead to positive results on the political trek," Nikonorova said.
Under the formula, which was proposed by Germany's then foreign minister and now President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, before elections the law on a special status for Donetsk and Luhansk would apply on a temporary basis, and after elections, and a final report by the ODHIR recognizing their validity and democratic nature, the law would take full effect.