Lavrov: Moscow to insist on defining special status for Donbas territories

11:40, 21.01.2015 1 min read

Moscow insists on defining a status of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics as a guarantee of the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"A constitutional reform Ukrainian authorities have been stalling in spite of multiple promises is a systemic task. These are the issues described by the Minsk agreements as a specials status of territories of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics," Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday.

"Certain groundwork has been laid in each of these matters. We have propositions for the sides. This task is not easy due to the [high] degree of politicization and emotions in the ongoing events. Yet we will unwaveringly insist on the consideration of this problem because a political reform is the only way to ensure tranquility in Ukraine and to resolve this crisis," the minister emphasized.