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Steinmeier Deal Sparks Protests in Ukraine, Praise in Moscow

Natalia Leonova

   This story originated in [1]VOA's Ukrainian Service. Some information
   is from Reuters and AP.

   WASHINGTON -- The Ukrainian president's support for a deal with
   pro-Russian rebels that would introduce a special status for Ukraine's
   breakaway regions drew both outrage and praise across the nation
   Wednesday.

   According to guidelines of the so-called Steinmeier Formula, which was
   signed late Tuesday in Kyiv, Russians, Ukrainians and European
   mediators have pledged to hold local elections in Ukraine's rebel-held
   east, where a grinding five-year war between the separatists and
   Ukrainian troops has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014.

   While the announcement was largely embraced in areas controlled by
   Russian-backed separatists, far-right nationalists descended on Kyiv's
   central Independence Square -- the epicenter of Ukraine's 2014 Maidan
   revolution that ousted Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych and
   precipitated Russia's annexation of Crimea -- wielding signs and
   banners that said "no capitulation."

References

   1. http://ukrainian.voanews.com/

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