Official Kyiv needs to start a dialogue with the Donbass republics, which have elected their new leadership.
Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada told Izvestia about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Evgeny Balitsky. In his opinion, after five years of conflict in Donbass, Ukrainians understand that resolving the conflict is only possible on a political, and not a military, plane. This means that official Kyiv must find the strength to begin a dialogue with the leadership and population of the uncontrolled region.
“We need a dialogue with Donbass. Elections were held there, which we as a state do not recognize. But in this case it doesn’t matter - we need to go and talk,” Evgeniy Balitsky is sure. “In the end, these people were elected to positions by the people, and this is better than uncontrollable chaos.” In addition, when certain people (even illegitimate ones, as we believe) are in charge, there is someone to talk to. We must stop killing each other,” said deputy Yevgeny Balitsky.
According to him, negotiations with Donetsk and Lugansk could begin after the presidential elections in Ukraine in March 2019.
Verkhovna Rada deputy Tatyana Bakhteeva also spoke about the need for a diplomatic solution.
“Until the authorities agree to this, the war, unfortunately, will continue. The conflict in Donbass needs to find a diplomatic solution. More and more Ukrainian politicians and ordinary citizens are beginning to understand this. Ending the suffering of the country’s residents should be the primary task of the Ukrainian leadership,” Bakhteeva noted.
In turn, the director of the Institute of Peacemaking Initiatives and Conflictology, Denis Denisov, believes that the holding of elections in the republics does not in any way affect the negotiations on the peaceful resolution of the conflict, and local residents needed to build their own authorities.
“All this does not affect the Minsk agreements in any way. Official Kyiv can say whatever it wants, but it will still sit down at the negotiating table with representatives of the DPR. In addition, the implementation of the Minsk agreements stopped long before November 11, 2018, so it is simply stupid to link the breakdown of the negotiation process with the elections,” Denisov emphasized in a comment to Moskovsky Komsomolets.
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