Ukraine "will have to negotiate" with the DPR and LPR, "she wants it or not." This was announced by the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic Denis Pushilin in an interview with RT. So he answered the earlier statement made by Kiev about the unwillingness to have a dialogue with the republics.
“World practice consists in the fact that in order to resolve civil conflicts it is necessary to communicate directly to its parties. The second side of the conflict are the republics of Donbass. Accordingly, the Ukrainian side needs to agree with us not “three legislative acts,” but all the legal aspects of the further coexistence of Donbass with Ukraine, ”Denis Pushilin emphasized in a conversation with RT.
According to the head of the DPR, Kiev is now trying to divert attention from its failure to fulfill its obligations with its statements.
On the eve of the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said that Kiev refuses to discuss the settlement in the Donbass directly with the self-proclaimed republics of the LPR and DPR. He stated this during the online discussion “Pandemic, Reform, War and Peace: A View from the Ukrainian White House”, organized by the Atlantic Council American think tank.
“Ukraine will never negotiate with the so-called LPR / DPR. But in accordance with the Minsk agreements, Ukraine must coordinate three legislative acts with “representatives of the territories,” the Interfax-Ukraine agency quoted Yermak as saying.
As the Ukrainian politician specified, Kiev means “representatives of the territories” civil society and citizens of Ukraine who are in the “occupied territory” and “did not take any part in the war”.
According to Ermak, there are supposedly only three full-fledged participants in the Minsk process - Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE.
Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly emphasized that it is not a party to the conflict, and the Minsk agreements spelled out the need for dialogue on a number of issues between Kiev and the LPR / DPR, including within the framework of a tripartite group.
- A resident of the village of Shakhty 6-7 in Gorlovka shows the destruction on the territory of her farm after the shelling on May 3
- © Sergey Averin / RIA News
Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, noted that Yermak’s new statement runs counter to the Minsk agreements.
“In fact, Ukraine refuses the negotiation process, opening a new page on its sabotage. This once again testifies to the fact that Kiev does not intend to implement the Minsk Agreements and continues the policy aimed at disrupting them. The change of the president and other government officials a year ago did not lead to a policy change regarding Ukraine’s fulfillment of its obligations, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.
As Shapovalov noted, the essence of the plan of the Ukrainian authorities is to "somehow explain their sabotage."
“For this, Kiev comes up with a mythical civil society in Donetsk and Lugansk, with which it’s supposedly ready to negotiate,” the analyst said.
Contrary to Minsk Agreements
Recall with a statement of refusal to negotiate withthe authorities of the self-proclaimed republics, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky spoke in February at the Munich Security Conference. Then he said that Kiev is ready for a negotiation process with the local population.
Moreover, in early March, in an interview with the British publication The Guardian, the Ukrainian leader said that Kiev could withdraw from international negotiations on a settlement in the Donbass until December, when the year would have passed since the Norman summit in Paris.
“The government can spend a year on the entire agreement, which then needs to be implemented. You can’t spend more time, ”Zelensky said, adding that in this case the policy of Kiev will be changed.
Commenting on the statements of the Ukrainian leader about his readiness to leave the Minsk process, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPR indicated to Kiev the need to start implementing agreements to establish peace in the Donbass.
“If Zelensky really wants to bring peace, he has the opportunity: you just need to stop coming up with ridiculous excuses and finally, in good faith, unconditionally, clearly and literally, begin to implement the Minsk agreements in agreement with representatives of the republics,” the Foreign Minister quoted the Donetsk News Agency as saying DNR affairs Natalia Nikonorova.
According to her, the foundation for the implementation of these agreements is "work on the legal aspects of the special status of Donbass, including its consolidation in the constitution."
However, on April 22, Kiev once again categorically rejected the idea of securing the special status of Donbass in the Constitution during a meeting of the Tripartite Contact Group to resolve the situation in southeastern Ukraine. This is stated in a message published on the official website of the President of Ukraine.
- President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky at the Munich Conference in February 2020
- © Sven Hoppe / dpa / AFP
As the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov told reporters on April 23, during the time that Vladimir Zelensky was in power, Moscow did not see Kiev’s significant success in implementing the Minsk agreements.
“For Russia, as one of the countries - guarantors of the Minsk agreements, the Minsk package of measures, of course, it is important that the sequence of actions recorded in this document is carried out. So far, we have noted that no significant success has been achieved in this field, ”Peskov stated.
According to the director of the Kiev Center for Political Studies and Conflictology, Mikhail Pogrebinsky, Yermak’s statement says that Kiev is now "turning around, like in a frying pan" - it cannot finally refuse to implement the Minsk agreements, but also does not want to negotiate directly with the authorities of the DPR and LPR .
“Yermak himself said that Ukraine does not want to negotiate with the self-proclaimed republics, but according to agreements it is obliged to interact with the Donbass. Therefore, it was decided to introduce the so-called "representatives of the territories" into the game. All this looks like a fool that has been going on for quite some time, ”the analyst said in an interview with RT.
According to Vladimir Shapovalov, talk of Kiev’s intentions to negotiate precisely with “representatives of the territories” is “an old procurement that was not born in Kiev’s offices today”. According to the expert, the Ukrainian side “wants to imitate interaction with the DPR and LPR” on a wide range of issues of political and constitutional settlement.
“We are talking, most likely, about politicians and public figures who are in Kiev itself and have a direct or indirect relation to the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, being kept by the Ukrainian authorities. But this is not a side of the conflict, these people do not represent the DPR and LPR. And Kiev is ready to negotiate with them, that is, in essence, to negotiate with itself, ”the expert said.
Rodion Miroshnik, the representative of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic in the political subgroup, said in an interview with RT that Ukraine “can come up with any format that it is convenient for them to agree on,” but this will not have the slightest bearing on the settlement of the conflict in Donbass.
“The Ukrainian authorities, of course, can find some people who have left Lugansk or Donetsk, put them at the same table and have fun drinking tea. But there are authorities in the republics that exist de facto, which control the situation de facto. Whether they like Ukraine or not, it is with them that it is necessary to build a dialogue to resolve the conflict, no other options have been given. All the rest is manipulations in the interests of nationally oriented radicals, which the Ukrainian authorities are frankly afraid of, ”he stressed.
“Not ready to normalize relations”
Recent actions of the Ukrainian side in the framework of resolving the situation in the Donbass indicate that Zelensky is not ready to fulfill his campaign promises, said Vladimir Shapovalov.
“Since Kiev refuses dialogue with the DPR and LPR, and also does not want to consolidate the special status of Donbass in the constitution, in all likelihood, we must state that Ukraine is not ready to normalize relations. And so, President Zelensky, whose subordinate is Yermak, is not ready to fulfill his election promises made a year ago - to improve contacts with the Donbass and end the war, ”the analyst said.
A RT source in the office of the President of Ukraine explained the actions of the Ukrainian authorities in that the West “put them in a tight framework” on the negotiation process between Ukraine and the self-proclaimed republics.
“The Western partners, and especially the USA, do not recommend the Ukrainian authorities to conduct direct negotiations with them. After all, then it may become clear that the conflict is internal Ukrainian, and it will become much more difficult to attract Russia to this process. Ermak’s statement is another confirmation that Ukraine will not cross the “red lines” established by the West, ”the source said.
A representative of the Party of the People’s Party, in an interview with RT, also said that Western partners are putting pressure on Vladimir Zelensky.
“As far as I know, half a year ago the Ukrainian leadership was ready to compromise. But now everything has changed. Obviously, Zelensky’s office was made clear that you need to obey recommendations from the outside. Otherwise there will be no loans and other help. Zelensky is not ready to cooperate with Russia yet, ”says the deputy.
- Destruction in the courtyard of a private house after a night shelling in the Petrovsky district of Donetsk
- © Sergey Averin / RIA News
According to an RT source in the Batkivshchyna party, Zelensky’s office has the same Donbas policy as the previous president, Petro Poroshenko.
“If we are really talking about the intention to end the war, then we need to sit down at the negotiating table. What difference does it make in what the United States or the EU say. It’s not their citizens who die daily, but the economy is suffering huge losses. We see that Zelensky does not risk making important decisions, therefore the situation in the east of the country does not change, ”he said.
Moreover, the more Ukraine “persists in the failure to comply with Minsk, the more diligently the DPR and LPR will build their statehood and develop it,” MP of the DPR People’s Council Miroslav Rudenko said in a RT commentary.
"Self-proclaimed republics will strengthen political subjectivity in the international arena and state institutions within the republics and convey the truth to the international community about the real situation," Rudenko said.
“He will distance himself in every way”
At the same time, experts note that the conflict in the Donbass can be resolved exclusively through negotiations between Kiev and the DPR and LPR authorities.
This was announced on April 27 by Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov during a telephone conversation with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger.
“The Russian side emphasized the need to resolve all issues through a direct dialogue between the parties to the intra-Ukrainian conflict in full accordance with the Minsk agreements,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
According to Vladimir Shapovalov, in order to end the conflict and normalize relations, a direct dialogue between the conflicting parties: Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk is really needed.
“And only such a dialogue can lead to any positive changes. Russia has repeatedly tried to convey this message to its Ukrainian colleagues, who nevertheless stand their ground and refuse to interact directly with the authorities of the DPR and LPR, coming up with plans for contacts with the mysterious “representatives of the territories”, the expert noted.
At the same time, Shapovalov predicts that the situation with the settlement of the internal political conflict in Ukraine "will be in a state of stagnation."
“Still, Ukraine will not make an official rejection of the Minsk Agreements, since this will be taken extremely negatively in the West. And in the current state of the economic crisis, Kiev is largely dependent on Western countries. However, no real steps will be taken towards the residents of the DPR and LPR. Ukraine will in every way distance itself from resolving this issue, ”the analyst concluded.