Donetsk, Feb 8 - DAN. The situation on the contact line in Donbass depends on the will of U.S. authorities, but the understanding by Europeans that their security directly depends on the Ukrainian agenda can help reverse the situation, Donetsk People's Republic parliament speaker Vladimir Bidyovka told the Donetsk News Agency on Tuesday in comments on the results of the meeting between Presidents of Russia and France Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron.
The meeting between Putin and Macron in Moscow on February 7 lasted for more than five hours. The leaders discussed the situation around Ukraine among other issues. The French leader said at a joint press conference that he would raise the issue of implementation of the Minsk Agreements in the course of discussions in Kiev.
“The first thing I’d like to note is the significance of face-to-face talks between the Russian and French leaders. The fact that they have taken place is a positive message which implies that European countries understand that their security directly depends on the military situation in Ukraine,” Bidyovka said. “We should not forget that the modern Ukraine resembles a bomb with a button which Uncle Sam’s long arm is trying to push. Each competent politician is well aware that if a conflict of the Russia-NATO scale breaks out in Europe’s geographical center, it will enviably affect EU countries.”
Neither Russia nor Europe wants a war. Only the United States wants to fight, but not with its own hands, that is why Kiev’s U.S. “friends” are forcing it onto a destructive line. Were Kiev authorities at least a bit smarter, they would understand the meaning of the phrase “war without victors,” as well as the outcome their game might have, he said.
“It’s another matter that European leaders also depend on the USA, although to a lesser extent than Ukraine. Nevertheless, the interests of Russia and the EU coincide today in that they want to prevent a war. Will they have enough political will to take the Russian Federation’s position and act in the interests of peace? I believe that the results of talks between political leaders will help obtain a complete picture in the near future. As for the situation on the contact line in Donbass, we can hardly expect significant changes until Ukraine gets an input from the West,” Bidyovka said.
Tensions in Donbass have been mounting since mid-January. After the New Year and Christmas holidays, Ukrainian forces stepped up strikes in Donbass and began to deploy reinforcements to the region. The DPR militia said that the enemy is preparing an offensive. Multiple launch rocket systems and NATO weapons have been detected in the conflict zone and groups of radicals are reinforcing Ukrainian army units. *jk