Russia President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks to the media after a summit aimed at ending 10 months of fighting in Ukraine in Minsk on February 12, 2015. (Xinhua/AFP)

MOSCOW, July 18 (Xinhua) -- A proposal on the creation of a new state Malorossiya is a personal initiative by the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), and Moscow will remain committed to the Minsk peace agreements, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

The announcement Alexander Zakharchenko made on the topic of Malorossiya "is his personal initiative. Moscow learned about it from the media," Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that the proposal needs to be "thoroughly analyzed" first.

"We stay committed to the Minsk agreements," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko in the Ukrainian region of Donbas announced the plan to create Malorossiya which will consist of 19 Ukrainian regions, taking Donetsk as its new capital and leaving Kiev a historical and cultural center.

While the DPR claimed that the proposal aims at ending the civil war in Donbas, it was harshly criticized by Ukraine and Western countries including Germany and France, which said the move was a disrespect to the Minsk agreements and was "absolutely acceptable."

Fighting broke out in Donbas -- Donetsk and Lugansk -- between government troops and pro-Russian separatists following the February 2014 revolution that led to the fall of former President Viktor Yanukovych.

The Minsk agreements, reached in September 2014 and February 2015 respectively, envisage a cease-fire, a withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the contact line, a prisoner exchange and local elections in Donbas, among other measures.