Separatists demand legalisation of “Novorossia” at talks in Minsk

A meeting of the “contact group on Ukraine” takes place in Minsk today.

Representatives of terrorist organisations DNR and LNR made public their position for the meeting, ITAR TASS reports.

They say only “talks on equal conditions are the only suitable way to resolve the conflict and restore peace”. They also said their position is based on the principles of the Geneva meeting of representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the US and the EU on April 17, 2014.

“LNR” and “DNR” want the special status for their “territories” and the Russian language and insist on ending the anti-terrorist operation and holding elections.

They also insist on the special status for their military groups and the right to appoint prosecutors and judges. They say an unconditional amnesty for all participants of combat operations is needed.

“LNR” and “DNR” want the special foreign economic status for a deeper integration with Russia and the Customs Union.

If the demands are fulfilled, the terrorists guarantee they would “take all efforts possible to preserve peace as well as the common economic, cultural and political space of Ukraine and the space of the Russian-Ukrainian civilization”.

A meeting of the contact group on the Ukrainian crisis consisting of representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE takes place in Minsk today.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said at a summit in Brussels on August 30 the talks would involve the OSCE's Special Envoy to Ukraine Adelheid Tagliavini, Russia's ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov and Ukraine's second president Leonid Kuchma. It became known yesterday that the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) would be represented by “deputy prime minister” Andrei Purgin.

Petro Poroshenko thinks the resumed work of the “contact group” will contribute to the effective implementation of a peaceful plan for Donbas and solving the situation through talks.

According to Poroshenko, the parties should discuss the release of hostages illegally held in Russia, the work of the OSCE monitoring mission on the Ukrainian-Russian border and conditions for a ceasefire.