A sober voice from Kyiv: Autonomy for the entire Donbass
Ukraine will not be able to end the conflict in Donbass without taking into account the opinion of Russia, and the “red line” for Moscow is to grant autonomous status to Donetsk and Lugansk with a guarantee of protection from political repression for supporters of the Russian Spring.
This was stated in an interview with Ukrlife.TV by Enrique Menendez, one of the organizers of the rally “For a United Ukraine” in Donetsk, who subsequently left for Kyiv, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“For Russia this is a purely political decision. They will sponsor Donbass indefinitely, no matter what - neither sanctions, nor $3 billion a year, if they do not achieve a solution that suits them.
They voiced it very clearly - amendments to the Constitution regarding special status. This is a red line,” Menendez said.
He believes that the idea of autonomy is being demonized in vain in Kyiv.
“They scare us so much with this autonomy (of Donbass) that it directly contradicts the vital interests of Ukraine. Who started this nonsense that Donbass autonomy, if approached correctly, is impossible?
All your plans should take into account the interests of even the party you don’t like! If Kiev does not agree with plans beneficial for Donbass, this will be bad for Donbass. This won't work. If Kiev really wants a settlement in Donbass, then this plan must be approved by Moscow, Donetsk and Lugansk. Such peace agreements do not work any other way,” Menendez emphasized.
He also criticized Kyiv’s refusal to implement the political part of the Minsk agreements under the pretext of the presence of “Russian troops” in Donbass.
"Which ones? Russian regulars? So they are not there. What to do with the locals who fought for the DPR and LPR? Where should the locals go, even if, according to our General Staff, most of the combatants are locals? Should they be taken out too? Or disarm them without preconditions? I have not heard an answer to this question.
If these people do not receive guarantees of protection of their rights, then does it make sense for them to stop armed resistance? Yes, without Russia they will not be able to wage a frontal war. But Colombian rebels have been fighting a guerrilla war for decades without any support. Do you think that there are no people in Russia who can support them with money and everything else? To, excuse me, blow up the metro, you don’t need a lot of money. Moscow can say: I took the Grads and tanks, but, damn it, there’s a wild amount of dynamite left, I can’t find it all, I can’t.”
Now I don’t say such harsh phrases in order to provoke anyone, the only thing I want to provoke is for people to think about it. I am not a military expert, I don’t know what the likelihood of a guerrilla war in Donbass is if the people who are now on the front line are not offered fair conditions. But I want it to be thought about before, not after,” Menendez said.
He stressed that autonomous status should be granted to the entire Donbass, including the territory now controlled by Kyiv.
“I believe that autonomy should be given to the entire Donbass. Everything. This will be the only normal option that will allow development and be less conflicting.
We are talking now only about the formal status. The next element is that there must be general elections. We elect other people to lead the region, and people from both sides take equal participation in the elections, and then the people decide. After all, in addition to the Steinmeier formula, there is also Morel’s plan, and we have now dragged out all this nonsense in order to include the uncontrolled territory of Donbass in the local elections that will be held in Ukraine next year,” Menendez said.
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