Medvedchuk claims DPR and LPR agree with his plan for 'autonomous Donbas'
The Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, chairperson of the Opposition Platform – For Life party’s political council and a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has claimed that the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) have provisionally agreed to the plan he proposed for the Donbas.
“I am confident that, if we implement the possibility of peace in the Donbas and end the combat, our plan concept, for which Donetsk, Luhansk and Moscow have already given their provisional consent, envisages a free economic zone in these currently uncontrolled territories, and matters related to financial, economic and business activity in these territories. And, if this is combined – and I am confident that it will be – with international European assistance, and with assistance from the same Russia about which allegations have been made publicly on multiple occasions, then, without a doubt, we will be able to emerge from the crisis in these territories in a few years,” Medvedchuk told the TV channel 112 Ukraine.
He also noted that the primary task would be to restore infrastructure.
“We are talking about restoring not only infrastructure, but, most importantly, creating living conditions for these people and establishing our economic industrial potential with around 15-18% of our country’s entire economic potential,” the politician added.
Previously Medvedchuk proposed that the Donbas be established as an autonomous region within Ukraine. He said that the plan is based on the Minsk Agreements ratified by the UN Security Council, and is in line with the agreements of the Normandy Format.