Draft amendments to Ukraine’s constitution run counter to Minsk accords

Draft amendments to the Ukrainian constitution that have been elaborated without consultations with the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Luhansk are not a document provided for by the Minsk-2 agreements, Russian foreign ministry said on Monday commenting on Ukraine’s bill on constitutional amendments concerning decentralization.

According to reports from Kiev, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) plans to pass in the first reading a bill on constitutional amendments submitted by President Petro Poroshenko.

"The constitutional amendments in their current form that have been drafted without consultations with representatives of Ukraine’s south-east are not a document envisaged by the Minsk agreements of February 12, 2015," the ministry said. "They [the Minsk agreements] insisted on due account being paid to ‘the specifics of certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions agreed with representatives of these districts.’ Moreover, Kiev opted to provide no reaction to the relevant constitutional proposals offered by Donetsk and Luhansk."
"The Kiev authorities’ tactics of ignoring the interests of Donbas population, their stubborn unwillingness to have dialogue with their people not only hampers sustainable settlement of the Ukrainian crisis but also undermines the efforts of the international community aimed at de-escalation of the situation reaching lasting peace in Ukraine and poses threat to stability and security on the European continent," the ministry said.

A constitutional reform is an important part of the February 12 comprehensive action plan to fulfill the Minsk accords worked out by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France in the search for peace in the embattled eastern Donbas region.

A key element of reform is decentralization of government with respect to the peculiarities of certain parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions agreed with their representatives, as well as adopting permanent legislation on the special status of certain Donbas areas.