The assassination of the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko does not undermine either the sides' obligations within the Minsk agreements or the need to hold the Normandy Four meetings, a spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd September, 2018) The assassination of the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko does not undermine either the sides' obligations within the Minsk agreements or the need to hold the Normandy Four meetings, a spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
Zakharchenko was killed by an explosion, which instantly killed his bodyguard and fatally injured the DPR's leader when they entered a cafe in the republic's capital of Donetsk on Friday. Another 11 people have been wounded, according to the DPR authorities.
"The latest developments in the east of Ukraine do not question the sides' obligations envisaged by the Minsk agreements or the necessity of the Normandy format meetings of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine," the spokesperson said, adding that tense situations like these were a perfect time to engage in honest negotiations.
The breakaway republic's acting leader, Dmitry Trapeznikov, said on Friday that several suspects, who admitted that the assassination was "Ukrainian sabotage," had already been arrested. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also said that Kiev was almost without a doubt behind the assassination, however Kiev has denied any involvement in the murder.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zakharchenko's murder demonstrated that people who chose terror as their strategy did not want to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Donbas.
