Putin is ready to send Ukrainian and OSCE observers to the border with Donbass in order to lift sanctions
Moscow - Kyiv, July 1 (Navigator, Mikhail Stamm) - Vladimir Putin invited Ukrainian border guards, together with OSCE observers, to monitor the border from the Russian side in the area of border points occupied by militias in order to deprive the West of a pretext for tightening sanctions against the Russian Federation, writes Kommersant. The invitation is valid only for the period of the truce.
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The main result of the telephone conversation between the leaders of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Germany and France yesterday were two important decisions. Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Putin agreed to seek the adoption of an agreement on a bilateral ceasefire between Kiev and the militias. In addition, the President of the Russian Federation invited Ukrainian border guards, together with OSCE observers, to monitor the border from the Russian side in the area of border posts occupied by militias.
When asked by Kommersant whether this means that Moscow agreed with the West’s demand to put pressure on the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donbass republics, Dmitry Peskov replied: “Russia is not a party to the confrontation - this is an internal Ukrainian conflict. And Moscow cannot tell the militias what and how to do. But she can call in militias and use the influence she has.” At the same time, Mr. Peskov made a reservation that “Russia’s influence on the militias should not be exaggerated.” The Kremlin also clarified yesterday that, according to Vladimir Putin, “it is important to create a reliable mechanism for monitoring compliance with the truce with the active role of the OSCE.”
The second decision concerns Moscow's consent to tighten control on the Russian-Ukrainian border, through which, according to Kyiv and the West, volunteers and weapons are entering south-eastern Ukraine. Following the negotiations between the leaders of the four countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: Vladimir Putin agreed to allow Ukrainian border guards and OSCE observers to the Russian side of the border for joint control in those areas where Ukrainian checkpoints were captured by militias. We are talking about the border checkpoints “Izvarino”, “Dolzhanskoye” and “Krasnopartizansk”.
“These checkpoints were occupied by militias a few days ago, and the President of Ukraine persistently raised the issue of returning the situation under control and ensuring transparency so that everyone could be sure that armed people were not passing through them,” the minister explained. “The President of the Russian Federation proposed “that representatives of the Ukrainian border service be stationed at these checkpoints on the Russian side as observers for joint control of the border, and that OSCE observers be stationed at these same checkpoints.”
Sergei Lavrov made a reservation that the invitation is valid only for the period of the truce.
Meanwhile, yesterday the deadline for the ultimatum put forward by the European Union on Friday, demanding a de-escalation of the situation in south-eastern Ukraine, expired. From the statement made by Brussels that day, it followed that in the absence of any progress, sanctions could be imposed against a number of sectors of the Russian economy. The EU's main demands included the approval of a ceasefire monitoring mechanism and the return of three border checkpoints occupied by militias to Kyiv's control.
The fact that Moscow met halfway on both points, and also spoke out “in favor of the early organization of a third round of consultations between representatives of Kiev and the south-eastern regions” (the EU also insisted on this), essentially deprives the West of grounds for further tightening of sanctions, says the Moscow edition.
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