Russian State Duma Speaker says draft constitution of Ukraine contradicts Minsk Agreements

The draft constitution of Ukraine suggested by President Petro Poroshenko contradicts the Minsk Agreements, State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin said at a meeting of the working group that analyses legislative procedures and regulatory acts adopted in Ukraine.

“The odious Ukrainian law-making has no limits,” he said pointing at the draft constitution suggested recently by Poroshenko and submitted to the Supreme Rada. The speaker believes that the draft constitution “contradicts the Minsk Agreements not only because it determines no special status for the Donetsk and Lugansk regions,” but also because they “try to push it through without discussing it with Donetsk and Lugansk, without public discussions.”

Earlier, the president of Ukraine submitted draft amendments to the Constitution to the Supreme Rada saying the document had been coordinated with the Donbass representatives. However, the official representatives of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) disclaimed those statements saying no one of them have been delegated to the Kiev-based Constitutional Commission that is in charge of the amendments. Kiev’s refusal to have a dialogue with the self-proclaimed republic is against the Minsk Agreements dating back to February 12, the DPR and LPR representatives say.

As EADaily reported earlier, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland said the Constitution of Ukraine must include a provision on the special status of Donbass.