The Donetsk People's Republic should be within the borders of the former Donetsk Region, DPR deputy prime minister said, pointing out that the issue should be addressed "at the negotiating table, without any weapons in hands."

DONETSK, November 23 (Sputnik) — The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) is going to lay territorial claims over the entire territory of Ukraine's Donetsk Region, should the talks with Kiev occur, DPR Deputy Prime Minister Denis Pushilin said Sunday.

"We will insist on a full territorial integrity of the republic. It is within the borders of the former Donetsk Region," Pushilin told reporters, pointing out that the issue should be addressed "at the negotiating table, without any weapons in hands."

"Some people do not believe now that we will bring the whole territory of the region under control. But many people also did not believe that the republic would appear, that we would hold the referendum and elections, that we would withstand the onslaught of the [Ukrainian] army," Pushilin said, answering the question whether Kiev would agree to hand over the whole territory of Donbas to the self-proclaimed republic.

DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko has repeatedly stated that the whole territory of the "former Donetsk Region" should become part of the Donetsk People's Republic.

Following a February coup in Kiev, Donetsk and Luhansk residents established people’s republics that later declared their independence. The crisis in Ukraine escalated when Kiev authorities launched a military operation against independence supporters in eastern Ukraine in mid-April.