KIEV, Ukraine
No deals with Kiev until decree is revoked, the leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic said on Sunday.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday signed a decree that shuts down Ukrainian government services in regions held by pro-Russian rebels. The order covers basic services such as education, medical care and emergency services, according to a statement published on the president's official website.
"The Luhansk People's Republic will not sign any new agreement with the Kiev administration as part of the Trilateral Contact Group as long as the decree in force," Aleksey Karyakin, the chairman of the Supreme Council of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic said.
Karyakin also called for pressure on Poroshenko to cancel the decree from Russia and the from Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe which are part of the Trilateral Contact Group based in the Belarus capital Minsk.
The Trilateral Contact Group was formed to negotiate a settlement between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government. It consists of senior representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the OSCE.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine has escalated in spite of the cease-fire agreement signed by the Ukrainian government and the pro-Russian separatists on Sept. 5 in Belarus' capital of Minsk. The agreement was intended to put an end to the conflict which has left thousands dead.
Between mid-April and Oct. 6, at least 3,600 people have died and 8,700 people have been wounded during the conflict between the Ukrainian government and the rebels, the UN Human Rights Office said in a report last month.
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