The Ukrainian representative in the Contact Group humanitarian subgroup has brought forward new demands in the issue of opening the crossing point in the Zolotoye area which is prepared for operation, press secretary of the Lugansk People’s Republic delegation in the Contact Group Maria Kovshar after a video conference.
The Ukrainian representatives has again forwarded new demands in the opening of the new crossing points, instead of confirming the technical aspects of the “Pervomaisk-Zolotoye” crossing point operation finalized earlier, which we had reforwarded due to the changing rhetoric of the Ukrainian side,” Kovshar said.
There are outstanding issues of the mutual security guarantee mechanism which was ruined as a result of the capture of a representative of the LPR Office at the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC), while “Ukraine’s readiness for substantive discussion of the technical parameters of operation and re-confirmation of the earlier accords, declared at the previous session, has remained unrealized,” she said.
“Instead of discussing the implementation of Ukraine’s obligation to drop criminal prosecution against the persons released in the prisoner exchanges of December 2019 and April 2020, the Ukrainian representative said that Ukraine had put on the wanted list all the persons passed to the LPR during the above exchanges because of their failure to appear before the court. Ukraine was unable to answer why it continued to prosecute the people despite the ban of their prosecution spelled out by the Minsk Agreements. However, she tried to convince the participants that it could not drop the prosecution without additional prosecution (search). She refused to explain the logic behind it,” the LPR delegation press secretary said.
“The Republic’s position remains the same: it is possible to make progress only by unconditionally meeting the obligations adopted within the framework of the Minsk Agreements,” Kovshar said.
In March 2020, the LPR and Kiev reached an accord to launch two new crossing points in the Schastye and Zolotoye areas. The works to develop the facilities began in July. Having failed to coordinate with the LPR a number of key points in the crossing points operation, including security issues, Ukraine unilaterally opened both crossing points on November 10. The Republic called it a provocation that threatened the life and health of persons who crossed the contact line and demanded that Kiev begin a dialogue to remedy the problems that stood in the way of full-fledge checkpoint operation. Currently there is only one official checkpoint on contact line in the LPR area of responsibility in Donbass and it is accessible via the bridge in the vicinity of Stanitsa Luganskaya.
The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014. Conflict settlement relies on the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, signed on February 12, 2015 in the Belorussian capital by the Contact Group members and coordinated by the Normandy Four heads of states (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine). The UN Security Council approved the document by Resolution No 2202 of February 17, 2015 and called upon the parties to ensure its implementation.
The document provides for comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawal of all heavy weapons from the contact line, starting a dialog on reconstruction of social and economic ties between Kiev and Donbass. It also envisages carrying out constitutional reform in Ukraine providing for decentralization and adopting permanent legislation on a special status of certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
To facilitate the work of the Contact Group, four working groups were set up under its aegis to deal with issues of security, politics, return of internally displaced people and refuges, as well as with social, humanitarian, economic and rehabilitation issues. *i*b
