A "special system of governance" in Donbas could be a compromise in negotiations on settling the situation in that part of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, the newly-appointed head of Kyiv's delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group for Donbas, said in an interview.

"I don't embrace this [special status of Donbas], because I can't understand what it is. But I can embrace a special system of governance in those regions, rather than special status. Governance, but not status. This means a compromise, and we are exploring realistic approaches to settling the problem," Kravchuk said in an interview published on the Suspilne website.

Special status implies "some separate state, with some special political powers," Kravchuk said. "We might as well end up leaving them with their own police, their own security agencies, or even their own army and border guards. Then this wouldn't be a territory within Ukraine anymore," he said.