“Imitation of activity”: how Kiev impedes the process of negotiations on the Donbass

The head of the office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak held talks with the ambassadors of the G7 countries and the head of the EU mission in Ukraine. The official told diplomats how the last meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on the Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in Donetsk and Lugansk Regions (TKG) was held, emphasizing the fact that Ukraine has increased its representation in the group to the level of deputy prime minister, deputy ministers and heads of parliamentary committees. In Kiev, they believe that the renewal of the Ukrainian delegation in the TCG speaks of the country's desire to increase the efficiency of work in the Minsk format.

According to the representative of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic in the political subgroup Rodion Miroshnik, Kiev went to update the composition of the negotiators after the rest of the participants put forward claims to the Ukrainian side for failure to fulfill its obligations undertaken earlier.

“In response, an imitation of activity from Ukraine began, the Kiev authorities began to change people in the negotiation group. This led to a delay in the process, because completely new people joined, unprepared for negotiations, ”Miroshnik said in an interview with RT.

"Imitation of the third level"

In communication with foreign diplomats, Andrei Yermak said that already at the next meeting of the contact group, it will be attended by residents of certain areas of Donbass, whom Kiev itself will choose, and with whom it agrees to negotiate - the Ukrainian authorities will not participate in official representatives from the LPR and the DPR accept.

As partners in the negotiations, the Ukrainian authorities intend to offer people from among Ukrainian citizens - internally displaced persons.

“We are ready to coordinate (further actions. - RT ), as stipulated by the Minsk package of agreements, with Ukrainian citizens who are not related to illegal armed groups, have not killed our soldiers, and are not related to unrecognized entities. In our opinion, just such people can be representatives of the Donbass, ”said Yermak.

• Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak
• © Press Service of the President of Ukraine

For the first time, with the official initiative, to include in the negotiation process refugees who left the territory of the DPR and LPR and moved to the territories controlled by Kiev, the Ukrainian side said in March.

Then, speaking at a briefing, Yermak announced plans to create an Advisory Council from among the residents of Donbass within the framework of the CTG. According to him, we are talking about creating a "platform" with which "citizens of Ukraine from the occupied Donbass" will be able to participate in the negotiations.

In early May, Kiev returned to this idea. On the website of the head of the presidential office, following negotiations with political advisers of countries participating in the Norman format, information appeared that Ukraine had officially proposed to attract IDPs (as the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR. - RT are called in Kiev ) of immigrants who had previously left the territory of unrecognized republics .

However, in the republics they doubt that the idea of ​​Kiev will be approved by the countries participating in the Norman format.

“The imitation of the third level is what Kiev offers today. The Ukrainian authorities themselves chose with whom to negotiate, of course, that with these people they agree on anything. However, the question arises: what to do with it after? Perhaps the Kiev leadership will offer all this to the participants of the Norman format, but for this it is necessary to make them believe in this performance, ”Rodion Miroshnik said in an interview with RT.

As the representative of the LPR added, relations in conflict negotiations are built between structures that de facto control certain territories.

“The leadership of the LPR and the DPR was elected by the residents, therefore it exercises de facto power. Today, Ukraine is trying to come up with its own play, which has nothing to do with reality. Settlement takes place by reaching agreements, and not by avoiding dialogue, ”added Miroshnik.

According to the deputy director of the Institute of the CIS countries, Vladimir Zharikhin, now Kiev is intentionally trying to put forward unacceptable conditions to disrupt negotiations, but at the same time evade accusations of sabotaging the Minsk agreements.

“This proposal cannot be regarded as constructive, because people who have not lived in the Donbas for six years and have lost contact with him are being proposed as negotiators. This is a Jesuit game aimed at disrupting negotiations, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.

A similar point of view is shared by Andrei Suzdaltsev, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and World Politics at the HSE. As the expert noted, the idea that Kiev should not conduct a dialogue directly with the authorities of the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR, but with certain citizens, has been circulated in the media since last fall. 

• Reuters
• © Alexander Ermochenko

“There were even suggestions that these citizens should be the current residents of unrecognized republics. A version has even appeared in the expert community that in this way Kiev wants to create and legalize its own network of informants in the republics. It’s no secret that in the Donbass there are also those forces that are opposed to the republican authorities, ”the expert noted in a commentary to RT.

Therefore, Kiev's lobbying initiative, according to which the Ukrainian side itself will bring out people convenient for it, replacing them with representatives of the DPR and LPR, cannot be called an unexpected move, Suzdaltsev added.

“But this is an absolutely illegitimate move by the Ukrainian side, because in this case it will conduct a dialogue with itself. This is not the first attempt by Kiev to turn negotiations into absurdity and frustrate them, ”the expert emphasized.

Principal discrepancies 

Formally declaring its commitment to the Minsk Agreement, Kiev is increasingly demonstrating its intention to revise the conditions for resolving the conflict signed in 2015.

On the eve of the Nash TV channel, MP from the faction of the pro-presidential party "Servant of the People" Marina Bardina announced that the administration of Vladimir Zelensky was preparing to reconsider his approach to resolving the situation in the east of the country. According to her, the current government has a clear position both in the Donbass and in the Crimea.

“What Zelensky is doing now. He came to power and tried to move along the path that was before, but the strategy, thought out by the fifth president of Poroshenko, did not work for six years, and this will not happen in the future. We are now changing processes, ”said Bardina, adding that the Ukrainian side is trying to“ provide a more official status ”to the negotiating group in Minsk.

• Vladimir Zelensky
• Reuters
• © Valentyn Ogirenko

The fact that in Kiev they are preparing some kind of alternative plan for resolving the situation in the Donbass, Andrei Yermak earlier told reporters. According to the official, the Ukrainian side does not intend to wait for years if "that side (DPR and LPR. - RT ) does not want to cease fire."

Kiev intends to act within the framework of the current scenario by the end of the year, doing everything possible to resolve the situation, however, in case of failure of this tactic, the Ukrainian authorities have a "Plan B", Zelensky’s administration said.

In particular, Kiev would like for local elections in the territory of the self-proclaimed republics to be held in October this year. However, before this, Ukraine should gain control over the border between Donbass and Russia, "possibly together with international institutions," Yermak explained.

With the demand to transfer control of the border to Kiev before the elections in the Donbass, the Ukrainian authorities have acted before. 

However, under the terms of the Steinmeier formula, Kiev must first ensure the operation of a temporary special status for these areas of Donbass, after which local elections will be held there according to Ukrainian legislation. If the elections are recognized by the OSCE, then the special status of the republics should be fixed in the Constitution of the country, and only then control over the border will be transferred to the Ukrainian authorities. 

Speaking about the difference between Petro Poroshenko’s tactics and the approach to the settlement demonstrated by Zelensky’s team, Rodion Miroshnik noted that if the fifth president of Ukraine simply lied about the fulfillment of obligations by Kiev, the administration of the new president is trying to bring the negotiation process to the point of absurdity.

“Ukraine has no interest in resolving this conflict, Zelensky has no desire to resolve it,” Miroshnik is sure.

The point of view of the representative of the LPR is shared by Andrei Suzdaltsev.

“When Ukrainian citizens voted for Vladimir Zelensky and his program, it seemed that Ukraine had chosen the world. However, it quickly became clear that by the world they meant the complete surrender of the republics ... Unfortunately, today the Ukrainian world is a victory over Russia, Lugansk and Donetsk, and not negotiations. As a result, now Kiev largely repeats Poroshenko’s tactics. The Ukrainian side will never compromise, ”the expert concluded.