Preparations for local elections in Ukraine's east must starturgently

Constitutional amendments in Ukraine, providing more autonomy to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, were stipulated in the February Minsk agreements between Kiev and eastern Ukrainian militias. "Klimkin noted that in the framework of the Minsk agreements, there is an urgent need to begin work on preparing local elections, monitored by the OSCE, in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement following the phone talk. Donbas has been seeking a special status amid fighting in the region, which started in April 2014 when Kiev launched a military operation against local residents who refused to recognize the new coup-installed government. Kiev authorities have set local elections in the country for October 25. However, the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics have said that their own separate elections would be held on October 18 and November 1 respectively. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has stated that the elections prepared by the self-proclaimed republics would have "devastating consequences" for the peace process.