Ukraine’s interim president offers amnesty to separatists
Ukrainian interim President Oleksandr Turchynov on Thursday offered pro-Russian protesters in the east amnesty from prosecution and more regional autonomy.
Mr. Turchynov added that any amnesty would be conditional on the protesters laying down arms and vacating occupied buildings.
“We will guarantee that the there will be no criminal investigation into those who hand over arms and give up buildings. I am ready to carry this out as a presidential decree,” Mr. Turchynov told the parliament in Kyiv, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reported.
Hundreds of protesters have been occupying the regional administration in Donetsk and the local security services in Luhansk since Sunday. They have erected barricades of tyres and razor wire and hoisted Russian flags.
The Donetsk protesters have declared an independent “people’s republic” — which has so far won no recognition.
Turchynov also said that in a telephone call with protesters he offered them more regional autonomy.
“We are ready to immediately discuss a local government reform to widen regional assemblies’ powers, including the right to form the local executive,” he said.
Under the current constitution local governors are appointed from Kyiv and the new Ukrainian government has so far resisted calls from Russia to make the country a federation.
The top diplomats of Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union are due to hold talks on April 17th in Geneva, an EU source said Thursday, adding however that the bloc was “downplaying” expectations regarding the outcome of the unprecedented meeting.
EU foreign ministers are to discuss developments in Ukraine, and the bloc’s response to the crisis, at talks in Luxembourg on Monday. No new sanctions are expected at this stage, the EU source said.
The bloc has so far imposed travel bans and asset freezes on key individuals in Russia and Crimea, and is preparing for the possibility of imposing wide-ranging sanctions on sectors of the Russian economy, should the situation in Ukraine escalate.
The EU ministers are also expected to consider a joint British, Swedish and Polish proposal to launch an EU mission to strengthen the rule of law in Ukraine, the source said. This could include police and security experts, but no military personnel, he added.
Also on Thursday, the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly was to vote on a motion to strip the Russian delegation of its voting rights.