Ukraine’s government has launched talks on decentralising power as part of a European-backed peace plan but did not invite its main foes, the pro-Russia insurgents who have declared independence in the east.
That deliberate oversight left it unclear what the negotiations might accomplish.
In his opening remarks, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said authorities were “ready for a dialogue” but insisted they will not talk to the separatists who have seized buildings and fought government troops across eastern Ukraine.
Mr Turchynov chaired the first in a series of round tables with spiritual leaders, lawmakers, government figures and regional officials as part of a peace plan drafted by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a security group that also includes Russia and the United States.
“Let’s have a dialogue, let’s discuss specific proposals,” Mr Turchynov said, “But those armed people who are trying to wage a war on their own country, those who are with arms in their hands trying to dictate their will, or rather the will of another country, we will use legal procedures against them and they will face justice.”
Acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the round table that they will be holding discussions across the country “in as many regions as possible,” but did not name any specific one.
Oleksandr Efremov, leader of the Party of Regions in the Ukrainian parliament, the support base for former president Viktor Yanukovych, hoped discussions will be held in the east “where things are perceived in a different way”.
Mr Efremov called on the government to withdraw troops from the Donetsk region and urged authorities to understand that people are genuinely wary of the new government.