By Illia Ponomarenko. Published Sept. 18 at 1:39 pm
A Ukrainian soldier takes a break after combat with Russian-backed militants near the town of Novoluhanske on June 14, 2019. Photo by Volodymyr Petrov
Ukrainian forces are currently preparing for a bilateral pullout of manpower and weapons all along the 450-kilometer frontline in Donbas, according to Lieutenant General Volodymyr Kravchenko, the top military commander of the Ukrainian contingent deployed to the eastern war zone.
“Such a task has been set by the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Ruslan Khomchak), the Minister of Defense (Andriy Zahorodniuk) and the Head of State (President Volodymyr Zelensky),” the general said on Sept. 18 during a meeting with United Nations envoys.
“We are ready for this for the sake of making the lives of our citizens better.”
General Kravchenko, however, noted that a successful separation of combat forces on both sides of the frontline would depend on whether Russian-backed militants honor their own obligations and pull their forces off the lines.
Answering the question of whether the troops' withdrawal will be at the beginning and then the local election in Donbas, he replied "Yes. How can it be otherwise?"
President noted there were several difficult issues to discuss.
"These are the issues on prisoner swap, then troops withdrawal. Now we are talking about the withdrawal in Zolote and Petrovske. Only after that we can talk about the withdrawal on the whole territory, it is 400 kilometers. And only after this we are able to talk about the elections in the occupied territories," Zelensky explained.
The state leader emphasized that Donbas is Ukrainian and the local elections should be held there according to the Ukrainian legislation.
KIEV, September 13. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is not ready to give a special status to Donbass in accordance with the Minsk Agreements, Ukrainian Envoy to the Contact Group on the settlement in eastern Ukraine Leonid Kuchma stated on Friday.
"Special status with the powers discussed today means that Ukraine is not a unitary state, but a confederacy of some sort or a federation with the offer to change the Constitution. I’m sorry, but this is not the Ukrainian way," Kuchma said during the Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference in Kiev.
Zelensky will also never agree to mass amnesty in Donbass, Kuchma said, cited by the UNIAN agency. "The way it is presented — there is no way, because there cannot be mass amnesty," the Ukrainian envoy said. "Every person must go through amnesty, and people with blood on their hands are not eligible for amnesty. This is the position of Ukraine." Kuchma added that they could work on the draft amnesty law and approve it with amendments. "However, they need to realize that there is no such thing as mass amnesty in the world," he concluded.
He also informed of the preparations for the upcoming Normandy Four meeting and the draft agreement set to be signed during the summit. "The advisers are preparing the decisions set to be signed by Ukrainian, French, German and Russian leaders," the envoy stated.
During his speech at the YES conference, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky stated that he is expecting the Normandy Four talks to take place in the near future. "We address our Western partners and we expect a meeting before the end of September. I think it will definitely take place. We cannot put this off any longer," he said.
The Minsk Agreements form the basis of peaceful settlement in Donbass. They include such measures as ceasefire, disengagement of forces and equipment, amnesty, reestablishment of economic ties, along with a deep constitutional reform in Ukraine, which should lead to the Donetsk and Lugansk regions acquiring a special status within Ukraine. However, so far, this plan remains unimplemented, due to the Ukrainian side refusing to comply with the political points of the agreement, citing unresolved security issues. Besides, Ukraine insists on taking control over an area of the Russian border, although the Minsk Agreements establish that this can only take place after new elections in Donbass.
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