Donetsk, Dec 9 - DAN. Donetsk is ready to immediately scrutinize the Ukrainian version of the document on the coordination mechanism, which Kiev representatives promised to prepare, Donetsk People’s Republic representative at the Minsk talks, DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova said on Thursday.
The Contact Group had a video conference on Wednesday. The talks lasted about eight hours. Ukraine agreed to prepare a substantive response to the Republics’ December 2 proposals on verification of ceasefire violations.
“The Ukrainian delegation asked for extra time to respond to our initiative and prepare an updated version of the draft statement taking into account our principled positions, namely: disavowal of Zaluzhny’s and Pavlyuk’s statements, recorded interaction between Ukraine and the Republics at the JCCC for full-fledged operation of the coordination mechanism and publication of the coordinated text of the statement on the official websites of the appropriate agencies of Ukraine and the Republics,” Nikonorova said.
In late September, Ukrainian army commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny told Radio Liberty that there were no restrictions on Ukrainian servicemen’s delivering fire in Donbass. The decision to open fire was allegedly made by commanders in position who did not need to coordinate it with Kiev. For his part, Joint Forces Operation commander Alexander Pavlyuk dwelt about Ukraine’s preparations for fighting in the region.
“We’re expecting the promised text from Ukraine and are ready to immediately examine it, in order to understand the prospects for finalizing the document which can lead to real progress in the region, not its imitation. Otherwise, we’ll have to state that self-promotion and imitation are more important to Ukraine than the real steps towards peace, on which the life and health of millions of Donbass residents depends,” the DPR diplomat said.
The Contact Group agreed and signed a package of tighter ceasefire control measures in Donbass on July 22, 2020. The “Measures” came into effect five days later. They envision the search for and punishment of ceasefire violators. The document also provides for designing and launching a coordination mechanism for quick response to violations with the assistance of the JCCC in the current membership.*jk