Razumkov tells Russians that new Rada to discuss "special status" of Donbass

The issue of "special status" for the Donbass will be tabled in the newly elected Verkhovna Rada. Head of the Servant of the People party Dmytro Razumkov told this in an interview with the Russian Kommersant.

He noted that the question of peace in Donbass is "one of the country's key problems".

"We all would like peace to be restored, so that Donbass and Crimea are returned to Ukraine. Unfortunately, this is not solved by laws", - he said.

When asked about the "need for compromises" of this status regarding the legislative direction in resolving this issue, Razumkov replied that there would be a discussion on this topic in the parliament.

"This is the legislative part. This point will obviously be discussed in parliament, but war is not a matter of law. It is a matter of desire. A desire to end this war. The Ukrainian party has it. Unfortunately, not all participants in this process have this desire. There are more questions of diplomacy, sanction pressure, domestic policy issues related to the fight against corruption, information policy, economy, infrastructure, social policy. This is a whole range of tasks that will need to be done and which will make it possible to accelerate the return of the temporarily occupied territories", - he noted.

This statement of Razumkov is at variance with the election promises of Volodymyr Zelensky. As a presidential candidate, he categorically opposed the special status of Donbass.

"Should Donbass have a special status?" – the journalist asked. "I think no. I believe that this is our big story, and we will have to get out of this criminal situation for a long time. Perhaps, the information war will help us here", – Zelensky stated in an interview with RBC-Ukraine in April 2019.

As previously reported, early election to the Verkhovna Rada was held in Ukraine on July 21. According to the results of processing 100% of electronic protocols, five parties entered the parliament: Servant of the People, Opposition Platform - For Life, Batkivshchyna, European Solidarity and Voice. At the same time, the Servant of the People party received the majority in the parliament - 225 seats. Given the candidates from Servant of the People elected by the first-past-the-post system, the presidential party will have a strong majority in the parliament.