New negotiations for the Donbas conflict settlement process
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky declares that agreement on the withdrawal of troops in Donbas has been reached. The withdrawal will take place along the entire demarcation line. “We took the first step, and it was very difficult. We know what to do next. Next, we will strive to return all our prisoners and continue to separate the troops in two stages in the framework of the Minsk process. First, near Zolote and Petrovske settlements, and then - separation on the entire territory, a ceasefire and the end to war," Zelensky said. The final stage, according to the president, is to return the occupied territories to Ukraine’s control.
The Normandy format negotiations (Ukraine, Russia, France, Germany) should be held, and only after this US should join the Donbas conflict settlement process. This is the opinion of Ukraine's Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko, voiced yerterday during Freedom of Speech show.
In addition, according to Prystaiko, Ukraine should use the mechanism for resolving the conflict in Donbas that exists now.
“We need to prove to ourselves and everyone that it is either working or ineffective. If we can honestly tell our partners that this format is not entirely effective and we cannot get out of the war, then we can talk about changing it,” the minister said in the context of the settle conflict with the existing mechanism.
Also, the Foreign Minister spoke about the conditional "Zelensky formula." Earlier, Prystaiko reported that President Zelensky wanted to reach a final solution to the issue of war in the Donbas. At the same time, the Foreign Minister stressed that Ukraine did not agree to carry out a full amnesty of Kremlin-backed militants, who took part in hostilities in eastern Ukraine. Prystaiko also said that the new authorities would not amend the Constitution of Ukraine, granting the so-called “special status” to Donbas, and the occupied territories are offered to develop along the path of decentralization, as well as the rest of Ukraine.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy added that at the Normandy format meeting, questions of a ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops in Donbas will be discussed.
The Steinmeier Formula has long been on the "diplomatic agenda" of the Normandy Format participants. It was proposed by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as a roadmap, a step-by-step plan for resolving Donbas conflict. This plan/formula provides for the simultaneous implementation of both the security part and the political part of the Minsk agreements, that is, setting peace and restoring Ukraine’s control over its territories, granting a special status to Donbas and holding elections at once (this is to reflect the content as briefly as possible).
Kyiv ignored the Steinmeier formula and called it imperfect and dangerous, insisting that the control over the border should take place first, and only then elections and a special order of local self-government in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions should take place.
Recently, Ukraine’s new Minister of Foreign Affairs Vadym Prystayko said that the Normandy Four summit should be held before the end of 2019. Taking into account the latest moods of official and unofficial France, the meeting might happen even in the near future (remember the position of French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on September 9, 2019).
