Pro-Russian separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine on Friday laid claim to territories under the control of Kiev, just days before a key December 9 summit aiming to end the hostilities.

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in the eastern Donetsk region announced that its parliament has set the official border with Kiev-controlled Ukraine along the pre-conflict boundary of Donetsk region.

That Donetsk region is much larger than what the separatists de-facto control.

The new law on the border of the DPR "does not forget the people living on territories temporarily controlled by Ukraine," a representative of the separatists' parliament Vladimir Bidyovka said, according to the breakaway region's official DAN agency.

The DPR controls about one-third of the Donetsk region, an industrial mostly Russian-speaking Ukrainian region which is one of two regions where pro-Russian separatists declared independence in 2014.

The announcement comes ahead of the December 9 summit in Paris between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's Vladimir Putin, moderated by the leaders of France and Germany, a highly-anticipated meeting aimed at ending more than five years of fighting.

Since 2014, the conflict in eastern Ukraine has left some 13,000 people dead. The Paris meeting would be the first face-to-face encounter between Putin and Zelensky, and the first summit since 2016 on the Ukraine conflict.

Control over the boundary of the breakaway area in eastern Ukraine, particularly its long frontier with Russia, is a thorny issue expected to be discussed at the summit.

Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Berlin denies reports of Merkel-Macron clash over NATO
Berlin (AFP) Nov 25, 2019
Berlin on Monday denied reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron clashed over dinner after the French leader described the NATO defence alliance as suffering from "brain death". The two European leaders met on November 10, a day after Germany marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. Their dinner came just days after Macron stunned NATO with his remarks, and prompting Merkel to slap down what she called "sweeping judgements" that were unnecessa ... read more