Ukrainian foreign minister to Donbass: No elections, no special status, no amnesty

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has reported to the parliament on the negotiations of the Normandy Four that took place in Paris on October 2. First of all, he stressed that elections in Donbass territories uncontrolled by Kiev are impossible.

“By all criteria of the international law, elections are impossible in a territory where foreign troops or foreign military equipment are present,” he said answering questions of Supreme Rada members.

“Our top priority for today is to coordinate all preconditions for the elections to take place,” the minister announced.

Meanwhile, he noted that Donbass will have no special status. “There is no special status at all. There is a separate law, and this is the only moment regulating self-governance in certain territories of Donetsk and Lugansk regions, so I ask politicians to stop speculating on the issue,” Klimkin said.

Besides, he explained that at the talks in Paris, France came out with an initiative of granting immunity to participants of Donbass elections, which is now being discussed.

“It is one of the initiatives that is being discussed during the post-conflict settlement. But I want to state it clearly: any temporary immunity will not guarantee them from criminal proceedings. Amnesty is not a political process, it a legal process,” he noted.

“Everyone who committed crimes against humanity will enjoy no amnesty. Those who were firing at Mariupol or Volnovakha will not be granted amnesty. They will face quite a different approach,” the Ukrainian foreign minister promised.