Fokin's statement on special status for Donbas does not meet national interests – Avakov
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A statement by Ukraine’s representative to the TCG Vitold Fokin on a general amnesty and a special status for Donbas does not meet national interests, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has said.
He said this following a ceremony of honoring the memory of four soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine who died as a result of a terrorist act - a hand grenade explosion - on August 31, 2015, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.

“None of our soldiers should die because of awkward political gambling. Therefore, the statement by Ukraine’s representative to the TCG Vitold Fokin about a general amnesty and a special status for the entire territory of Donbas is provocative and does not correspond to national interests. We should remember that thousands of our soldiers died for every piece of Ukrainian land in Donbas," Avakov said.

Earlier, Vitold Fokin said in an interview with strana.ua that, in his opinion, the war in Donbas will end and the lives of Ukrainian fighters will be saved when a special status is granted to the entire territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. He also recalled the announcement of a general amnesty.

On August 18, President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Vitold Fokin as the first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group for the Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in Donbas (TCG).