MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th November, 2021) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday criticized the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe for approving the Ukraine draft law on policies during the transition period in Donbas, which bans the country's officials from fulfilling the Minsk agreements.
"A bill is being discussed that would prohibit Ukrainian officials from implementing these agreements (the Minsk agreements), which (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin pointed out in a telephone conversation with the leaders of Germany and France. They assured us that they would do everything to prevent this law from being passed. And it has already gone through the expertise at the Venice Commission, which does no credit to this body, which still wants to be respected," Lavrov said at a joint press conference after the meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia.
The Venice Commission provides legal counseling to the nations willing to bring their legislation in line with European standards of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
Lavrov also noted that newly appointed Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that the country is entitled to use strike drones and that the Minsk agreements need to be replaced by another document with the US playing the central part.
The bill on the state policies of the transition period in Donbas was developed as part of the order of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council to introduce transitional legislation in the region. According to Reznikov, the document was designed to safely reintegrate the Donbas Region and restore people's trust on either side of the border. Ukraine sent the bill to the Venice Commission and to the embassies of G7 countries for approval.
The conflict in the Donbas region between Ukraine's government and the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk republics has been going on since 2014. The Minsk Agreements, designed to find a political resolution to the conflict, were negotiated by the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine in February 2015. The Russian president said the adoption of the draft law will mean Ukraine's unilateral withdrawal from the Minsk agreements.
