By agreeing to the “Steinmeier formula” for holding elections in the Donbass, Kiev voluntarily abandoned the plan to implement the Minsk agreements, said former President of Ukraine, leader of the “European Solidarity” Party Petro Poroshenko.
The contact group on the Donbass on Tuesday at a meeting in Minsk agreed on the “Steinmeier formula”, which determines the entry into force of the law on the special status of Donbass. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that a new law on the special status of Donbass will be developed for its implementation, and elections in uncontrolled territories should be held in accordance with Ukrainian laws and under the supervision of the OSCE.
“Steinmeier formula” was invented in the Kremlin, it protects Russian interests… By adopting the Steinmeier formula, Ukraine voluntarily renounced the road map for the implementation of Minsk, which was supported by our German and French partners”, – Poroshenko said, speaking in the Verkhovna Rada on Wednesday. He also noted that the meetings in the “Normandy format” at the highest level should be held without any preconditions.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with “Kommersant”, said that Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German Foreign Minister in 2015, at a meeting of leaders of the “Norman Four” in Paris, proposed a compromise option for holding elections in the Donbass. Poroshenko attended the meeting. In accordance with the plan, later called the Steinmeier formula, security processes must go hand in hand with the fulfillment of political conditions.
The Steinmeier Formula defines the mechanism for enacting a law on a special procedure for local self-government in certain areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions on a temporary basis on election day and on an ongoing basis after the publication of an OSCE report on the election results.