Moscow will continue providing Donbas citizens with political support — Russia’s EU envoy

Russia will continue providing the political and moral support for the citizens of eastern Ukraine regardless of the talks of the Normandy Four leaders in Minsk, Russia’s envoy to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov has told in an interview with CNN International.
"As far as moral and political support for the people living in eastern Ukraine and Donbas, well that may continue regardless of the negotiation," Chizhov told CNN's Hala Gorani.
Speaking on the Minsk summit, Chizhov said: "What Russia will be bringing is a set of proposals. Actually, the initial Minsk agreements were based on a set of proposals first put forward by President [Vladimir] Putin."

These proposals include military elements, like cessation of hostilities, a withdrawal of heavy arms from the line of separation, but also "political elements like providing special status for these eastern regions within Ukraine, holding elections, adopting an amnesty law which never materialized," he said.
When asked whether Russia supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Chizhov said: "Definitely yes, we are committed to territorial integrity of Ukraine in its current form, I mean leaving Crimea aside, which is now part of Russia."
The diplomat stressed that Russia has not been sending arms to militias in eastern Ukraine. In comments to the allegations that Russia-manufactured tanks were seen in the conflict zone, he said: "Russian tanks can be found all across the world and Ukraine, of course, is full of them, because Russian tanks, actually Soviet tanks, were produced in both Russia and Ukraine."