DPR leader Zakharchenko responded harshly to Nadezhda Savchenko
The leader of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, harshly responded to the newly appointed Verkhovna Rada deputy Nadezhda Savchenko, who has recently been making conciliatory statements about the conflict in Donbass and declaring her readiness to begin negotiations with the LDPR.
Zakharchenko voiced his position today at a press conference in Donetsk.
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“I have already answered two or three times about the meeting with Savchenko. I really don't understand what we're going to talk about. If a person really wants to talk, let him say what. Then we'll see.
Savchenko said before: I am ready to bring your prisoners of war here and exchange them. Nobody forbids it. Go change it. What to talk about?
If Savchenko wants to end the war, I will immediately name the conditions. Complete and unconditional withdrawal of all military units of the Ukrainian army from the territory of the former Donetsk region. Moreover, with a ban on robbing and looting in recent days. It is necessary.
The release of all our prisoners of war located on our territory. I'm not talking about Kyiv or Odessa now. I'm talking about those prisons in Mariupol, Artyomovsk, Kramatorsk.
And then, right on the border of the Donetsk region, I am ready to talk about peace with anyone. I even promise that I will not send artillery and tanks there. I’ll stand right next to the stele of the Donetsk Region and talk about peace. And with Savchenko, and with Poroshenko, and Hollande, and with Merkel, with everyone.
Is this what she wanted to talk about? I'm ready. And if they want to talk about something else, let them say what. I understand that she is a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, PACE, but, unfortunately or fortunately, this is not an indicator for us.
They want to talk about peace - the conditions are now known to everyone. Without these conditions being met, there is no point in talking. The river of blood that was shed, the economic blockade and military aggression that was unleashed by Ukraine, will not give us anything. We won't be going back there. I will never in my life allow Ukrainian flags to hang here.
What to talk about? About the integrity of Ukraine? So let them not jump on the Maidan in 2014. Then Ukraine would be whole. About the independence of Ukraine? There is a good recent joke, but I won’t tell you... About the fall of the Ukrainian economy? So let it continue to fall: Ukraine has turned from an industrial country into not even an agricultural one, but into some kind of rags. About the fact that people will face the winter with the inability to pay for utilities, because they will be twice as much as their pensions and salaries? That they are dancing to the tune of the IMF and America? Well, what will she talk about?
In order to talk about something, you need specific proposals. My suggestions are: Do you want to talk about peace? – leave Donetsk land, return to your cities. Don’t plunder for the last time—everything there has already been plundered. Don’t cut down forests, otherwise Krasny Liman is already a desert. Go away. Then you and I will sit down and talk about peace. About our future relationships.
In Ukraine’s understanding, a political settlement in Minsk means the seizure of the state border and the forceful return of us to the fold of Ukraine. But in our opinion, this is a ceasefire and our access to the borders of the Donetsk region. Two diametrically opposed vectors. And what should I talk to her about? Can we talk with her about future good neighborly relations in the format of DPR independence?
That's it, I expressed my position, and publicly. If Savchenko offers me specific ideas on these issues, then why not.
She said there that she wanted to meet on the demarcation line. I'm ready. Frankly, it’s a very populist move. Because sitting on the front line, in no man's land, drinking tea and talking about the world under the gun of a thousand eyes is politically correct. It would be possible, of course, to help her with this - after such gatherings, Savchenko’s rating would instantly increase. I’m actually a crazy person and I’m ready to support her in this, but I think it’s inappropriate.
We definitely shouldn’t talk about such things in the trenches. But if he wants to talk in the trenches, please, we can meet there too. I don't suffer from trench anxiety at all. And I even feel comfortable there,” said Zakharchenko.
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