Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has denounced attempts to establish contact between foreign politicians and the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics (LPR and DPR).

"We strongly condemn any attempt at contact with the so-called republics, the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories. This kind of contact, though disguised as mediation, is by no means conducive to attaining peace; on the contrary, it is harmful and aimed at legitimizing Russia's crimes against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and against international law as a whole," the ministry's spokesperson Kateryna Zelenko said on Monday.

Yesterday, German parliamentarian Ulrich Oehme (Alternative for Germany), who chairs the Economic Cooperation, Development, and Health Committee and is also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), suggested that the LPR and DPR join in dialogue with the Normandy Four.

"A very important party, certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, is missing in the Normandy-format talks among Germany, France, Russia, and Ukraine. So I have proposed the beginning of talks with the DPR and the LPR," Oehme told the press in Minsk on Sunday, following his meeting with representatives of the Donbas republics.

Oehme also said that he would call on the PACE to involve the LPR and the DPR in dialogue with the Normandy-format countries, and a relevant resolution would be prepared if his proposal gains at least 20 votes.

Zelenko stressed that the peace formula must include the withdrawal of foreign troops from Donbas as well as Kyiv retaking control over the border.

"Such a position is also supported by the German government whose efforts on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict settlement are very much appreciated in Ukraine," she said.

Any provocations by pro-Russian politicians are "perceived in Ukraine as complicity in crime," Zelenko said.