Putin urges Ukraine to coordinate special status with DPR and LPR:  Normandy Four talks

 Normandy Four held another round of talks on the situation in the southeast of Ukraine, the Kremlin told EADaily. The four leaders examined the implementation of the Minsk Agreements  as well as the determination of a special status for the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR). Russian President Vladimir Putin, Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, President of France Francois Hollande and President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko had a telephone talk over these and other issues.

According to the source, the leaders expressed satisfaction with the decision announced by the Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic to carry out a voluntary and unilateral withdrawal of arms. “The four leaders once again stressed the importance of strict compliance with the ceasefire regime and establishment of demilitarised zones, under the oversight of the OSCE’s special monitoring mission. In this respect, a call was made for Ukrainian forces to withdraw from the village of Shirokino, which the self-defence forces withdrew from earlier in a goodwill gesture. They also discussed the exchange of people detained by both sides in the conflict, and the possibility of getting International Red Cross representatives involved,” the Kremlin said.  

Vladimir Putin called on Ukraine to consult with the DPR and LPR representatives and bring into legal force a permanent legally enshrined special status for the two regions and a law on an amnesty, and also settle the procedures for holding local elections.