According to Denis Pushilin, shellings sometimes turn into “full-scale military actions”
Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), stated that the citizens of the self-proclaimed DPR that live near the contact line in Donbass have not experienced any of the promised improvements by Petro Poroshenko about peace and safety in the region.
“Unfortunately, despite the fact that the Minsk Agreements were signed, and we constanly hear that the agreements should be implemented, our residents living near the contact line do not see that,” Pushilin said.
The situation on the contact line is deteriorating, shellings sometimes turn into “full-scale military actions,” Donetsk News Agency quoted DPR envoy as saying.
According to Pushilin, Poroshenko’s actions are against the Minsk Agreements since there are no peacekeepers in Donbass.
“We once again note that there is Package of measures that was signed. We remember very well that the third provision of this document envisages verification and control only by OSCE’s (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) SMM (Special Monitoring Mission). No peacekeepers. Neither UN nor any other ‘police missions’ are envisaged. That is why all these statements are meaningless,” the envoy noted.
On Tuesday Poroshenko visited Kiev-controlled Kramatorsk in Donbass. The Ukrainian president said that “the lion’s share” of his visit to Donbass “is devoted to peaceful matters… for which both Donbass and Ukraine are striving.”
Additionally, Pushilin stated that Poroshenko’s proposal for elections in Donbass is also against the Minsk Agreement.
“If you analyze Poroshenko’s statements about election, you will see that he needs peacekeepers, he wants to return control over the border and sovereignty. He once again refuses to fulfill provisions of the Package of measures,” Donetsk News Agency quoted Pushilin as saying.
According to the Minsk Agreement, Ukraine is expected to ‘’carry out a constitutional reform, fulfill the provision on non-persecution of participants in the conflict, adopt laws on special status and, of course, on election.”
“All of this should also be coordinated with representatives of Donetsk and Lugansk,” the DPR envoy noted.
Pushilin said that DPR is prepared to hold elections by July 2016, as it was proposed by the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
“We have done everything we could. The ball is now in Ukraine’s yard. If they do what they should, election will be held. But we cannot control the situation in Kiev,” he added.
The Minsk Agreement brought together Russian president Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko. It was signed on 12 February 2015 and theoretically ensured for ceasefire, weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local elections in Donbass, constitutional reform in Ukraine, and establishing working sub-groups on security, political, economy, and humanitarian components of the Minsk accords.
