The President of Ukraine decided to revive the plan proposed back in 2017 by one of the deputy interior ministers Arsen Avakov. Vladimir Zelensky made the corresponding statement at the Munich Security Conference. This is a joint patrol of the border in the Donbass. The essence of the proposed model is that special groups are created, which on a parity basis include fighters of the Ukrainian National Guard, representatives of the LDP and members of the OSCE mission. This is a new attempt to evade the Minsk agreements, which contain a completely different algorithm for holding elections in the rebel republics.
Donetsk and Lugansk, of course, disagree with this idea for several reasons. Firstly, the militants of the People’s Militia do not want to walk side by side with the Ukrainian troops who took part in the hostilities and are most likely responsible for the deaths of the inhabitants of the LPR. Secondly, and even more significantly, joint patrolling is a new approach to the same sore point: first, Kiev wants to gain control of the border and only after that pass the law on elections in special districts of Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
That is, in fact, Zelensky’s proposal, which looks like some kind of interim and compromise plan, is a veiled attempt to rewrite the Minsk agreements by changing the order of items in the package of measures to implement them. In Munich Zelensky confirmed that this is precisely what he means.
Moscow’s reaction was predictable: President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that all initiatives from Kiev should be coordinated with Donetsk and Lugansk, and the Ukrainian side still does not demonstrate readiness to engage in dialogue with them. In the republics themselves, the idea was called "unsustainable", in fact, returning the situation to its original position. Unacceptable joint patrolling was considered by Ukrainian nationalists, who said that Zelensky’s plan did not include the condition for disarming the separatists and their power and military structures were legalized.
The tale of a white bull-calf, told already dozens of times, is what we deal with in the long run. Zelensky’s team would like, unlike the predecessor’s team, to resolve the matter in the Donbass peacefully, but she does not want to carry out Minsk-2. Yes and can not, being under the watchful eye of the right-wing radicals. Instead of securing the special status of the Ordlo in the Constitution, the Ukrainian government proposes a simple, not constitutional law, in which it is not clear what remains of the indicated status.
Moscow and the republics have repeatedly said that no roundabout maneuvers, playing with speckled cards will help Kiev steer towards the desired result: there is no alternative to the Minsk agreements.
In the same Munich, European countries, primarily France and Germany, made it very clear that they were interested in an early peaceful end to the conflict in Donbass. The 12-step settlement plan published on the site is a clear signal to Kiev: Paris and Berlin are losing patience due to the unwillingness of the Zelensky team to implement the agreements reached at the meeting of the Norman Four in December last year in Paris.
Russia has already called into question the holding of the next meeting in the Norman format due to the behavior and statements of Ukrainian politicians. During a telephone conversation with Zelensky, Vladimir Putin asked his interlocutor if he intends to comply with the Minsk agreements. The answer was in Munich. And he is negative.
The situation is developing in the direction of a new crisis and the resumption of hostilities. Today, as if in unison with the unwillingness of the Ukrainian authorities to follow the path of Minsk-2, the Ukrainian artillery launched a massive shelling of the territories of the LPR and the DPR. However, this will not strengthen the position of Ukraine in the negotiations, but will greatly worsen. It was because of the irritation of old Europe, which the devils were tired of the lack of will and cowardice of Kiev. The EU has levers of pressure on Ukraine - the Ukrainian economy is thoroughly borrowed from Europe. So the president of Ukraine will soon expect very difficult times.
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.