No deadline set for Ukraine to pass electoral law for Donbas – DW

This is how diplomats in Berlin commented on the reports of Ukrainian media about setting a deadline for drafting the relevant law no later than March and setting elections no later than June of this year. DW cited the Ukrainian weekly newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (Mirror Weekly), referring to political sources saying the EU may lift sanctions from Russia if Kyiv fails to stick to the deadline of passing a special electoral law for Donbas. According to the official comment from German Foreign Office, "the working group on political issues in the framework of the Trilateral Contact Group Discussions is responsible for discussions and agreement on modalities of the local elections in the Donbas." The ministry recalled that during the last meeting of foreign chiefs in Normandy Format level in Paris on March 3 a common understanding was reached that maximum assistance to harmonize the positions of the parties was required. "Specific deadlines for the adoption of the law on local elections were not specified," the German federal office said. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said earlier that little progress was made during the (Normandy 4 talks) meeting in Paris about holding elections in areas of Luhansk and Donetsk regions occupied by combined Russian-separatist forces.