Updated 10:42 am MSK
MOSCOW, September 7 (RIA Novosti) - Although the self-proclaimed Luhansk (LPR) and Donetsk (DPR) People's Republics question several items in the Minsk protocol, they have agreed to include them in the document, so as not to hinder the beginning of the peace process, LPR’s Prime Minister Igor Plotnitsky told RIA Novosti over the phone on Sunday.
"The People's Republic jointly supported the protocol decided by the contact group for establishing the ceasefire, implementation and monitoring of the truce, a hostage exchange, and humanitarian aid and a recovery program to Donbass and Luhansk regions. These items are, in our opinion, aimed at implementing a plan to resolve the conflict, announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 3. Regarding other items in the protocol, we have more questions than answers, but we agreed to include them in the report, so as not to hinder the beginning of the peace process,” Plotnitsky said.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has published the full text of the protocol on its website, which was signed on Friday after the trilateral contact group meeting in Minsk regarding the conflict in Ukraine. The agreement entails Ukraine adopt a law on the special status of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in addition to holding early elections.
Ukraine has been engulfed in violent internal conflict since mid-April, when Kiev began its military operation against independence supporters in the southeastern regions of the country. According to United Nations’ estimates, over 2,500 people have been killed and more than 6,000 wounded since the start of the offensive.
