Zelensky excludes granting Donbass special status and amnesty to militants

Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky believes that the occupied Donbass should not have a special status. He told this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

According to him, the currently occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts should have no special status. In addition, he excludes the adoption of law that would guarantee an amnesty for the militants.

"I think this is a huge story, and it will take us long to get out of this criminal situation. Perhaps, it will be precisely information war that will help us here. I really hope to return these people information-wise to the state of mind of realizing that Ukraine needs them, they need Ukraine, and they are, Ukrainians too. But a lot of humanitarian steps will have to be done. Plenty of things", - Zelensky noted.

According to him, information wall splits residents of the occupied Donbass and the rest of Ukraine.

"Our politicians say: build a wall, and so on. It was built, but not of bricks. It is even worse. It seems there is no wall, but it is informationally scary. Those people in those territories who do not receive pensions... And the fact that we do not talk to them is the worst thing", - Zelensky stressed.

The candidate noted that one of the initiatives of his team to create a Russian-speaking European media portal for true coverage of events in Ukraine would help.

"To send an impulse, lend a helping hand to them, say: we are waiting for you, look, you are now hostages. Here is what should be said. These are our hostages there", - he added.