Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister for the Reintegration of "Temporarily Occupied Territories" Alexey Reznikov said that Kiev is not going to fix the special status of Donbass in the country's Constitution, as prescribed by the Minsk agreements.
"The President (Volodymyr Zelenskyy. -
RT
), during the December summit of the Normandy format leaders in Paris last year, gave a clear understanding that there will be no changes to the Constitution of Ukraine regarding the inclusion of any special status there, this is excluded," Reznikov said. speaking at a meeting in the Verkhovna Rada.
As a reminder, at the Normandy Four summit held at the end of 2019 in Paris, the leaders of the Russian Federation, France, Germany and Ukraine confirmed that there was no alternative to the strict and consistent implementation of the agreements of February 12, 2015.
However, speaking at a joint press conference following a meeting with the leaders of the Russian Federation, France and Germany, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he would not allow the federalization of the country.
“We will not allow any kind of influence on the political development, political governance of Ukraine.
Ukraine is an independent country that determines its own political path, ”Zelensky said.
In turn, Russian President Vladimir Putin drew attention to the need to amend the Constitution of Ukraine, "fixing the special status of Donbass on a permanent basis," and the implementation of the "Steinmeier formula" regulating the implementation of the political part of "Minsk-2".
Moscow continues to view the current policy of Kiev as contrary to the letter and spirit of the February 12, 2015 agreements.
On September 17, in an interview with the RTVI TV channel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that he did not expect any progress under the current government of Ukraine.
“I do not think that under the current Ukrainian government, as well as under the previous president, there will be any progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
If only because President Zelensky himself speaks publicly about this, Deputy Prime Minister Reznikov, who is responsible for work in the contact group, speaks about it publicly, ”Lavrov said.
Without special status and constitutional reform
The Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly announced their refusal to implement the Steinmeier formula, despite the fact that on October 1, 2019, all members of the contact group agreed on it for implementation in Ukrainian legislation.
Kiev refuses to hold local elections in uncontrolled territories without transferring sections of the border of Donetsk and Lugansk regions with the Russian Federation to the Ukrainian side.
According to Reznikov, Kiev will insist on revising the Minsk agreements of February 12, 2015.
Ukrainian Minister for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksiy Reznikov
On August 12, on the Dom TV channel, the head of the Kiev delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Leonid Kravchuk suggested replacing the concept of “special status” in relation to Donbass with “special regime of administrative management”.
As the first president of Ukraine explained, the change in these concepts will comply with the legislation of Ukraine.
However, Donetsk saw in Kravchuk's appeal a desire to “rewrite” the February 12, 2015 agreement.
According to the plenipotentiary representative of the DPR in the contact group Natalia Nikonorova, Kiev is adjusting Minsk-2 "to the Ukrainian reforms."
“In reality, everything is exactly the opposite: these are Ukrainian reforms that must be implemented in full compliance with the set of measures (dated February 12, 2015. -
RT
) approved by the UN Security Council.
And this means, among other things, the implementation of a constitutional reform, during which the special status of Donbass should be enshrined in the country's fundamental law, "Nikonorova stressed.
According to experts interviewed by RT, Kiev's actions are aimed at dragging out the negotiation process and actually "freezing" the civil conflict in Donbass.
However, the Ukrainian leadership officially refutes the claims of critics about the desire to put the resolution of the conflict on a long pause.
So, in mid-September, in an interview with the Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that he opposed the option of "freezing" the conflict in the southeast of the country along the Transnistrian or Abkhazian model.
In his speech to parliament, Reznikov said that the return of the uncontrolled territories would take at least 25 years.
According to him, immediate reintegration "after the end of the war" is impossible.
“The end of the war and reintegration will not coincide in time, since we are talking about safe reintegration.
One that will not tear the country apart and create new risks.
Safe reintegration will last at least one generation, ”Reznikov said.
As the official explained, after the hot phase of any armed conflict, "a transitional period will surely begin," during which Kiev is going to form "mechanisms of transitional justice" in order to resolve legal contradictions.
“We need a law on responsibility, we will have to determine who the collaborators are, who are criminals, and who are hostages, who falls under the amnesty, and who under no circumstances should and should be fully responsible,” Reznikov said.
Zelensky at a meeting with officers of the Joint Forces Operations headquarters in Donetsk region
© president.gov.ua
Confuse the diplomatic process
According to experts, it is not just that they started talking in Kiev about the long-term reintegration of the uncontrolled territories.
Such a policy is necessary for the Ukrainian authorities to justify the stalled implementation of the political part of Minsk-2 and to promote the idea of changing the text of the agreements of February 12, 2015.
"With this 25-year reintegration of Donbass, Kiev is replacing the Minsk agreements, trying to impose its own scenario for resolving the conflict," Andrei Suzdaltsev, deputy dean of the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, said in an interview with RT.
According to the expert, Kiev hopes that the refusal to quickly return Donetsk and Lugansk "will break the situation."
In his opinion, the Ukrainian leadership expects that the "slow pulling in of Donbass" in the long term will give an opportunity to convince the West, which continues to insist that there is no alternative to "Minsk-2".
“However, Kiev is unlikely to succeed in pushing through changes to the Minsk agreements.
Germany and France are unlikely to do this.
Moscow does not need such games either, ”says Suzdaltsev.
The analyst also believes that a quarter-century of reintegration can be aimed at "breeding" the population of the southeast of the country.
As Suzdaltsev suggests, if Kiev does return control of Donetsk and Lugansk, then unbearable conditions of existence will most likely be created for people holding pro-Russian views.
“Kiev really does not like the mood that prevails in Donbass.
The momentary reintegration prescribed in "Minsk-2" will cause a lot of problems, since the overwhelming majority of local residents have an extremely negative attitude towards the Ukrainian authorities.
Kiev will indeed take decades to eliminate this hotbed of dissent, ”Suzdaltsev explained.
In a commentary to RT, the director of the Institute for Peacekeeping Initiatives and Conflictology Denis Denisov drew attention to the fact that Kiev regularly comes up with contradictory and vague initiatives, which then do not receive development and disappear from the agenda.
Denisov explains this behavior of the Ukrainian authorities by the desire to distort the essence of the Minsk agreements and confuse the diplomatic process.
“The situation is such that if the Ukrainian side withdraws from the Minsk agreements, it means that the negotiations are completely frozen for a while.
This will lead to very high reputational costs, especially for Ukraine.
On international platforms, Kiev declares its commitment to Minsk, but now we are witnessing stagnation, once again provoked by Kiev, ”summed up Denisov.