The work of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk was effectively blocked at the last meeting by terrorists from the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. After reaching a substantial compromise in the security subgroup which led to an actual ceasefire which the enemy has complied with from September 1, things have turned hot in the subgroup for political affairs.
“Representatives of some raions of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts delivered an ultimatum to Ukraine, thus trying to prevent any further dialog,” the representative of Ukraine in the political subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group Roman Bezsmertny told Ukrainska Pravda.
“During our subgroup’s meeting, my counterparts on the enemy side submitted a document that I would rather call an ultimatum. It was perceived as such by the representative of the OSCE. Of all its provisions, the most unacceptable was the intention to hold elections on October 18 (some raions of Donetsk oblast) and November 1 (some raions of Luhansk oblast). These elections are to be held in accordance not with the law of Ukraine, but with some unspecified provisions and rules of their own,” Bezsmertny added.
“Ukraine, meanwhile, has to resolve four issues according to their proposal: to enact a law on special regime of local government, to adopt modalities of elections in the version proposed by representatives of some raions of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, to adopt and enforce the amnesty law, and amend the Constitution of Ukraine again according to their wishes,” he remarked.
“Only then will they allow holding elections for some other village and town councils on February 21,” Bezsmertny noted.
“I want to emphasize that everything that was done in the group before was done to prevent October 18 and November 1 elections from going ahead, because they will actually prevent any further dialog. Thus, the Ukrainian side sees today’s statement as an ultimatum. It was perceived this way by the representatives of the OSCE as well,” Bezsmertny explained.
Valentyn BADRAK, director of the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies:
“Regarding negotiations in Minsk, we know they have reached a dead end and there is still no result. Now the situation has changed, which requires the Kremlin to clarify its strategy. First of all, it concerns events in Syria, I mean the Kremlin’s decision to intervene in these events, which is linked to the redistribution of commodity markets. Russia’s interest in this case is to preserve its position in Europe. This is why Russia made this risky step. Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly will meet in late September. The Kremlin has created an opportunity for President Putin to speak at this Assembly. Accordingly, we see some political compromise emerging between Russia and the West, which Putin wants to develop further. The desire of the Kremlin is to discuss the outstanding issues as a package. My prediction is that the Kremlin wants to consider the Ukrainian question as a part of the package including the Syrian question and confrontation between Russia and the Western world in general. For Ukraine, it is certainly a negative situation that is behind all negotiations being delayed until after Putin’s speech at the UN General Assembly. No party will take decisive action before it. One would expect some trench fighting to continue, but even it is of no interest to the Russian side at the moment. Russia will continue to implement a strategy to undermine stability by actions both within the Ukrainian government and outside it, the latter bolstered by military or intelligence operations. We need to be very careful, especially during this period.”
Iryna HERASHCHENKO, MP, Presidential Commissioner of Ukraine on the Peaceful Settlement for Donetsk and Luhansk regions (facebook.com):
“We have just had one of the most difficult Minsk meetings to date. It is my firm belief that the militants, when announcing they would hold ‘elections,’ not only acted according to a Kremlin scenario, but also intentionally did it on the eve of the 70th anniversary session of the UN General Assembly and a meeting of the Normandy Four powers to be held in Paris. The Kremlin’s goal is clear: they want to use their puppets to blackmail Ukraine, the EU, and the OSCE, pretending that it was the opinion of ‘residents of the Donbas.’ The Ukrainian side has already called this action its true name, saying that it is a case of pure blackmail, aimed at undermining the peace process and escalating the conflict. Elections in some regions can be called only by the Verkhovna Rada and should be held only in accordance with the Ukrainian law, not the plans of Zakharchenko-like puppets or Pierre Morel (with all due respect to the latter), and meet the standards of the OSCE.
“Actually, it was these statements about holding ‘elections’ that shaped the atmosphere of the meetings, which were accordingly very difficult. Unfortunately, when it comes to the humanitarian subgroup, I have no news on the hostages, the issue stays at the center of our attention, but the militants try to link it to the issue of amnesty, which is pure blackmail as well. Incidentally, global experience shows that amnesties are announced only after the conflict’s end, but not during it. We have illegal armed groups still roaming in the Donbas. Also, those implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity are not covered by amnesties, and this is clearly stated in the relevant Ukrainian law. I raised the issue of Russia’s compliance with the release of hostages provision and proposed, as the first matter at the next meeting to be held on October 6, to have Russia’s representatives answer how they are going to free Ukrainians including Nadia Savchenko, Oleh Sentsov, and Oleksandr Kolchenko: through amnesty, pardon or simply release them as detained on trumped-up grounds.”
“We expressed our concern – and the OSCE was even tougher as it expressed the world’s opinion – about the militants having blocked access to the occupied territories for international humanitarian missions and preventing shipments from reaching them.
“There is good news as well: the ICRC today began a humanitarian mission in the villages of the so-called gray zone, delivering food and essential commodities there (it is a Ukrainian initiative, by the way, and will involve villages on either side of the contact line). An important and fundamental achievement is that the ceasefire has mostly held, and the frontlines have been quiet for 22 days already! If it came about in part due to our participation and work, however slight our role in it, I am ready to continue this work, as hard as it is morally... Today, the political group saw most heated discussions. We continue to fight for the liberation of the hostages, who according to the Security Service of Ukraine still number 156, including both civilians and soldiers. Dear mothers and wives, I so want to tell you the good news at last – but I have to tell the truth. There was no news today, but ... We keep fighting. We will liberate them. We believe.”
