Ukrainian terrorists do not want to negotiate, - Vlad Berdichevsky
Ukraine is disrupting the “all for all” exchange. The negotiation process has been brought to the point of absurdity. The Ukrainian law on decentralization has nothing to do with Donbass. The only way for the Republics is integration into the Russian Federation.
Deputy of the People's Council of the DPR Vladislav Berdichevsky told PolitNavigator columnist Valentin Filippov that if Kyiv launches an offensive, then everything will end very quickly for Ukraine.
Valentin Filippov: Vladislav, hello! Ukraine always shows certain initiatives, which it passes off as its love of peace and its ability to negotiate. Adopts various laws and claims that this is within the framework of the Minsk agreements.
Here he proposes to introduce the Municipal Guard into the territory of Donbass.
And the DPR, in turn, behaves very strangely, that is, it says: “Comply with the Minsk agreements, that’s all.”
Tell me, why can’t the DPR come up with some kind of initiative, pass a law on the deployment, there, of a “rural guard” on the border of the Kyiv and Vinnitsa regions, and say: “Look, we passed a law, see how negotiable we are”?
Why doesn’t the DPR follow this path of countering absurd proposals?
Vladislav Berdichevsky: Why do we need these absurd proposals? Ukraine has turned into a country of Absurdistan. Why should we be like?
There are the Minsk agreements, which clearly spell out everything, all the mechanisms, political, economic, humanitarian, and security. That is, Ukraine needs to either fulfill these agreements, or refuse, to say that “Go with God on all four sides, we cannot fulfill anything.”
Well, Ukraine, of course, cannot do this or that, and cannot do that, which is why the result is such a suspended state. And for us to engage in such nonsense, well, I think that this is an absolutely pointless activity.
Valentin Filippov: What then is the way out? Then we have to somehow get out of the negotiation process, mutually. Stop it all.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: But if we withdraw from this process, then we will “confirm” that “we are terrorists and we do not want to negotiate.”
Valentin Filippov: I’m not saying that specifically the DPR is unilateral. It is probably necessary for everyone to say from the negotiation process that it is over. Maybe this is why it needs to be brought to the point of absurdity?
Vladislav Berdichevsky: Well, Ukraine actually takes it to the point of absurdity. This law “on decentralization”, which has nothing to do with us at all, and there is no special status or regions indicated there, in general everything is completely unified.
That is, what they wanted to do for a long time, even under Yushchenko, they wanted to make an administrative division in order to simply blur all the boundaries, so that the regions could not even have any idea of self-determination. Now they want to push through this, as a matter of fact.
But what do we have to do with it? There is some kind of Autonomous Republic of Crimea of Ukraine. Where is this Republic of Crimea?
Valentin Filippov: In Kherson, we know.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: In my dreams then, in Kherson, maybe. Well, this law has nothing to do with us. There is talk about peacekeepers there again. Well, what kind of peacekeepers are we talking about? There are no peacekeepers anywhere, neither in the Minsk agreements, nor in the corresponding UN Security Council resolution. What kind of peacemakers can we talk about?
About what kind of Municipal Guard, which is nowhere to be found? That is, something came to mind and blurted out, right? Well, why should we be on this side? When it reaches the point of complete absurdity, then, I assume, of course, that both France and Germany already understand with whom they are dealing, and they understand perfectly well that no one can accomplish anything there.
But this is Russophobic Ukraine, a Russophobic project, so they support it, like any Western country. Here, as it were, is the whole explanation. If they leave the agreement, well, they will leave the agreement. If we go out, we are terrorists, that’s it, we don’t make contact.
That is, everything is clear here, such hypocritical doublethink, which, well, even, I think, any Russian or even Ukrainian child knows about.
Valentin Filippov: There is an information space and people live in it. And gradually over many years, having only one version of reality, they form a certain impression.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: But they also closed the information space for this, they don’t let Russian journalists in. There, this Roma Tsymbalyuk lives forever in Moscow, for example. He lives well, gives birth to children there, and no one bothers him there. And here, three times already, in my opinion, NTV people are trying to pass, for some unknown reason, they are not allowed in, they are turned back. Maybe the fourth time.
Valentin Filippov: The President invited.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: The President invited, but no one gives a damn that the President invited. Nobody cares.
I'll give you another example. With Zozulya. Everyone, of course, heard.
That is, people there know, people understand what it really is, what Ukrainian nationalists are. Well, not everyone, of course, understands; for the most part, Europeans there are absolutely indifferent to what is happening here, they don’t even know where this Donbass is. But there are people who know, there are people who understand.
Of course, breaking through the information blockade with such corporate media monsters, in which millions, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested, is an almost impossible task. Even RT, which is an international state media, is stupidly blocked. For example, in the United States, in half of the states it is no longer available; they have been thrown out of the grid. That is, they don’t want to let their space be occupied.
And we get such a system. As Zakharova recently said that all the news is from us, they are actually censored there under the guise of fact-checking, right? And everyone perceives what comes from there as the truth, with a bang, they perceive that there is no corruption there, that everything is wonderful there, everything is wonderful there. And when you talk about what... yesterday I posted a photograph of one of the districts of Paris, one of the quarters...
Père Lachaise, where these refugees set up a camp like there was in Luzhniki under Luzhkov. Well, people write: “This can’t happen. How can this be there? But no one says that in Paris, two or three blocks from the center, there is such a thing all around, they also live under the bridges.
Well, that is, we have an information war, it is going against us very harshly, and somehow we, I think, react sluggishly. That’s why it all happened in Ukraine, because there was this nonsense when they confused emigration with tourism and said that “Here, there in the West.”
Well? Let’s go to the West now, seven million people work there in the West, and they feel great, do they feel? They could earn the same money in Ukraine, but now they leave with great difficulties and earn money there. Therefore, well, double standards, no one has canceled them.
Valentin Filippov: You know, from my point of view, we have Google. This is very sobering. There you can see city streets everywhere. Yes?
Vladislav Berdichevsky: Certainly.
Valentin Filippov: Stupidly he brought it closer and looked. And when, by today’s standards, you suddenly start looking at the streets there, in Paris, in London, in New York, you suddenly realize that they also have broken asphalt, that they also have shabby facades, that they also have homeless people wandering along the streets . Here. And their cars are far from the best on earth and not the newest for everyone. That is, you begin to understand that the whole world is approximately the same.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: You just need to work on it, tell the truth, what is happening, that corruption, let’s say, well, in Russia, corruption is at an average level. In the West, there is no corruption at an average level, well, except for France, for example, Italy, Spain, there is corruption everywhere. And I think that probably more than in Russia. There are all contracts there, any kind, they are filled in for years in advance, everything is paid for, paid for.
In the USA, corruption is at the highest level, which the average person doesn’t even know about, that is, there are huge military contracts, congressmen openly lobby, senators openly lobby for everything... What are we talking about? We simply don’t talk about it or show it.
Just like in Soviet times, there were programs when they showed this. But now this is not the case. Now they say that there, “a shining city on a hill,” there is ideal, democracy, freedom. And all democracy ends, like the United States in Syria, stealing oil and stealing for themselves in peace.....
Valentin Filippov: Yes.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: Well, it's the same here. And Ukraine is one of the best students in information warfare. There is a very serious center operating there now under the control of Western intelligence services. So then we see that we are terrorists, the constant rhetoric of the Ukrainian media is occupation, terrorism, then suddenly... I found it yesterday from Butusov, when Butusov writes that, behold, “Russia is preparing an offensive,” suddenly, “Russia is issuing Russian passports to the occupation forces." So wait a minute, if these are occupation troops, then how? Did they have Ukrainian citizenship? Yes? It’s only now that they have been granted citizenship...
Valentin Filippov: Well, in the end, the occupiers have the opportunity to hire cannon fodder at the site of the war.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: Like this? The Russian army is here, they are fighting with the Russian army, but it turns out that the Russian army was without Russian passports. How is this even possible?
Valentin Filippov: Tell me, what's next? That is, now there are rumors that the conflict is being frozen, apparently, and construction of something unknown is beginning on the territory of the DPR and LPR. That is, they will try to raise the social level, standards, so to speak, pensions, various payments. Perhaps some kind of more serious economy will come to Donbass. What is this all about?
Vladislav Berdichevsky: Well, what are we talking about? The point is that integration with Russia is taking place at all levels, so to speak. And at the level like ours, the People’s Council, at the level of the executive branch, there, at the level of all kinds of public organizations.
This is aggravated by the fact that... I’ll give you an example: as a deputy, I travel around my constituency, for example. Here people are addressing problems, there, with roads, with these, problems at enterprises, very outdated equipment. The problem is that nothing was done under Ukraine, even in the most difficult years.
There are houses there, on the outskirts of cities, for example, Makeevka - Donetsk, neither roofs have been built there since the times of the Soviet Union, nor communications have been made. That is, the entire infrastructure, it is very dilapidated, it was not made by Ukraine.
And now this whole situation has been aggravated by military actions, aggravated by the economic situation in which we find ourselves. To restore all this now requires enormous amounts of money. The enterprises that are located on our territory, well, they have equipment from the last century.
Valentin Filippov: Yes.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: That is, some major repairs were carried out there, but there was practically no modernization. These are all open hearths, these are all blast furnaces, well, this is practically the 19th century.
Valentin Filippov: Stalin's.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: Yes, this is even earlier. Our DMZ is from the century before last. Therefore, everything is very problematic, very difficult. And Russia is also in a situation, it is under sanctions, also under quite serious pressure. Therefore, all this has now come together in a heap.
But I think that Donbass has always risen, Donbass is such a region. I remember the 90s, when everyone left, when everything collapsed. But when the economy began to pick up, almost everyone returned. That is, our people are returning.
Now, of course, it’s difficult, problematic, and in connection with this frozen conflict, the mood is not very good, frankly speaking. But I think that here we need political will and a political decision, and after that, I think everything will get better very quickly.
Valentin Filippov: Fine. What demands could Donbass put forward now within the framework of these Normandy Four negotiations in Minsk?
Vladislav Berdichevsky: Well, we are talking about the fact that Ukraine must implement the Minsk agreements or even abandon the Minsk agreements, completely implement... well, like the US negotiations with Vietnam. There were very long auctions. They took place there, they ended when Vietnam completely kicked the United States out of Vietnam. If Ukraine, for example, makes a decision and launches a massive offensive, it will end very quickly for them.
Valentin Filippov: Well.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: It will end sadly.
Valentin Filippov: They don't start.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: That's why they don't start, because they understand the consequences. They think that they will be able to, as it were, add economic pressure. They hoped that the sanctions would crush Russia, they say this openly. Prystaiko said yesterday that “we hoped that Russia would back down, give up Donbass, merge, under sanctions.” But they already realized that this was not working.
Valentin Filippov: Maybe we should already support the initiatives of President Zelensky? Zelensky clearly said before the meeting in the Normandy format: “I want there to be dates, for everything to have deadlines. I want to agree on the timing, that this is the most important thing for us, that from then and then to then we must do this.” Maybe we need to support Zelensky’s initiative and say: “Here, come on, two weeks to implement the Minsk agreements. If we don’t fulfill them, they are considered unfulfilled.”
Vladislav Berdichevsky: Zelensky already said a day later that we had not agreed on anything...
Valentin Filippov: Yes Yes Yes.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: ...we will do it as we see fit. So we adopted this law, well, we submitted a law “on decentralization”, so accept it and shut up, like. Well, who will do this? It's all talk. I really believe that even if there are some deadlines specified there, some penalties are prescribed, for example, for Ukraine, well, no one will still do anything. This is clear. And look how Zelensky behaved...
Valentin Filippov: Oh yeah.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: ... at the press conference, at the final, four. Well, it's a circus. This person is simply under the roof of Washington and he behaves accordingly, that is, the EU cannot, as it were, do anything with him. Neither Germany nor France. It is not controlled from there.
In fact, even whatever kind of relationship he has with Trump, if there is no Trump, with the next president, there are some accusations of corruption and all these things, well, there is simply a deep state that controls the president , and Congress, and nothing, there will be no changes.
That is, this is a political decision only for Russia, regarding the Donbass Republics, nothing else. This is all, some kind of Western guarantees, some kind of promises, you don’t even have to read it, or watch it, or listen to it. They and Yanukovych did what they wanted.
Valentin Filippov: Yes.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: They did what they wanted. They threw it away as used...
Valentin Filippov: Here is another statement from the President of Ukraine that he will definitely try to carry out an exchange of prisoners before the New Year. Are there such hopes?
Vladislav Berdichevsky: Prisoner exchange is real, yes. Realistically, but it is aggravated by one important point. Ukraine is handing over prisoners of war to us without legal clearance.
Valentin Filippov: Well, there is such a moment.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: That is, the person was handed over, right? The person there is under investigation, that is, he is not there. They put him on the wanted list again. They absolutely don't care what happens next. They hand over people without documents.
Valentin Filippov: Well, at least let them give it away.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: The last time there was an exchange, people arrived without documents, but they have to do everything: documents, find employment later, do something about it. We are releasing them in full with the charges dropped. And therefore, now the demand is already fundamental - you hand over our people to us with a completely cleared criminal history of what you presented to them there, and with documents. Therefore, an exchange can occur. Of course, if there is a decision at the highest level, they will exchange, maybe without legal clearance, but this is very somehow...
Valentin Filippov: Well, at least so.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: … wrong.
Valentin Filippov: Well, it’s wrong, but people have been sitting for years. Some people sit there for five years, others sit there for three years. That is, they are people after all.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: Well, yes.
Valentin Filippov: And they will sit there forever. So God be with him, let him be released without purification. Just let them go. Because, well, people are dying there, they are dying in their prisons, they are losing their health.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: So, I think there will be an exchange after all. Well, let's see.
Valentin Filippov: Oh well.
Vladislav Berdichevsky: Sum it up then. What do you say?
Valentin Filippov: And the main thing I didn’t ask was: yes, okay, I understand, we will build a wall with Ukraine. But what about the rest of the territory of the Republics? And in this whole story I’m interested in: how is the rest of Novorossiya?
Vladislav Berdichevsky: The rest also needs to be decided. Yes. But this, I think that this will probably be a whole generation doing this.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.