Minsk Ii Agreements

With the 2015 Ukrainian municipal elections scheduled for 25 October, DPR leader Alexander Zakhartchenko adopted a decree on 2 July ordering the sending election on 18 October. [68] He stated that this measure was "in accordance with the Minsk agreements". [69] According to Zakharchenko, this meant that the DPR had "started to implement the Minsk agreements independently". [69] Zakharchenko stated that the elections would be held "on the basis of The Ukrainian Law on the Status of Temporary Self-Domination of Certain Districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions", as they were not in contradiction with the DPR Constitution and laws. [69] The Ukrainian Parliament approved on 17 March a law on the "special status" for the Donbass, as stipulated by Minsk II [56] Later, in 2019, the Ukrainian Parliament voted on Thursday to extend the rules providing for limited autonomy to separatist-controlled eastern regions, a precondition for a five-year settlement of the conflict. [57] The law was immediately criticized by Ukrainian politicians, separatist leaders and the Russian government. The president of the Radical Party, Oleg Lyaschko, said that the law was "a vote in favour of the de facto recognition of the Russian occupation in the Donbass". Parliament`s Deputy Speaker Andriy Paroubiy said the law was "not for Putin or for the occupiers" but to show Europe that Ukraine was ready to stick to Minsk II. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the law was a "severe deviation from the Minsk agreements." [56] Representatives of LPR and DPR stated that the law was a "unilateral" amendment to Minsk II and that the amendment invalidated the agreement. [58] DPR Chief Alexander Zakharchenko stated that any changes to Minsk II, which had not been agreed in a consensus, were "legally null and void" and that "nothing that had been agreed in Minsk was done".

He added that the DPR must "occupy all the cities where the referendum took place, and then cooperate politically [with Ukraine] as equal partners." [59] Nevertheless, representatives of the DPR and LPR continued to forward peace proposals to the trilateral contact group for Ukraine. [60] Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said on 8 June 2015 that more than 100 soldiers and at least 50 civilians had been killed since Minsk II came into force. He said pro-Russian forces had violated the ceasefire more than 4,000 times. [61] Contrary to the agreement, DPR representative Denis Pustilin and LPR representative Wladislaw Deinego declared on 10 June 2015 that their republics "wanted to join the Russian Federation". They also said they consider Crimea, annexed by Russia in March 2014, to be part of Russia. [62] Pifer, Steven. "Minsk II at two years old." Brooking`s institution. February 15, 2019. www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2017/02/15/minsk-ii-at-t….

As fighting broke out in Debaltsevé, emergency negotiations were held in Minsk, brokered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. They resulted in a "set of measures for the implementation of the Minsk-2 agreements."