Nadiya Savchenko, the Ukrainian helicopter pilot who spent more than a year in a Russian jail, has issued a surprise call for direct dialogue with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics”.

Savchenko was sentenced to 22 years in jail in March but released as part of a prisoner swap last month. She returned to Kiev a hero and has taken up the parliamentary seat she was given while jailed.

Savchenko, who served in a Ukrainian volunteer battalion prior to her arrest, was expected to take a hard line on the conflict in the east, but instead said direct dialogue was required, in addition to keeping up international diplomatic pressure on Russia.

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“We should establish direct internal communication without third or fourth parties,” said Savchenko in a radio interview. She added that was ready to negotiate with Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, directly.

The separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine coordinate their actions with Moscow, and many in Kiev feel direct negotiations would simply play into Russia’s hands.

“These are terrorist organisations who are acting on our territory under full control of the Russian aggressor,” said Andriy Parubiy, speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, rejecting Savchenko’s idea. “I don’t think we can carry out any negotiations with these people.”

Western politicians had expressed hope that Savchenko’s release could pave the way for a comprehensive settlement to the conflict, which has cost more than 10,000 lives over the past two years. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German foreign minister, said the exchange could be “a contribution to building trust between Ukraine and Russia and so can also give a positive impulse to the Minsk process”.

A ceasefire agreement was signed in Minsk last February, but low-level skirmishes have continued, and few provisions demanded by the ceasefire protocols have become reality. In recent weeks, heavy fighting on one section of the front has led to several deaths on both sides.



However, the positions of Moscow and Kiev remain so far apart that any real solution appears unlikely in the short term. The Minsk agreements foresee elections held under Ukrainian law in those parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions currently under separatist control, followed by the handover of the border back to authorities in Kiev. This last point is the most contentious, as without control of the border, the military and financial aid which has flowed from Russia to the separatist regions would have to cease, rendering the territories unsustainable.

“Handing the borders back to Ukraine would solve things in a second, but our western partners say first election and only then border,” said Alex Ryabchyn, a Ukrainian MP from the Donetsk region. The Russians point out that the Minsk agreements say control of the border is the final step, not the first.



In both Kiev and Donetsk, anger at the chaos and bloodshed of the past two years makes major compromises politically difficult.

“There is no way that [Ukraine’s president Petro] Poroshenko has the political capital to take real steps such as pass an amnesty,” said Alexander Khodakovsky, one of the leaders of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic. “And how can we give up control of the border without an amnesty?”

When US assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland visited Moscow last month for talks with the Kremlin’s point man on the conflict, Vladislav Surkov, Kiev was concerned that a deal could be done over the Ukrainians’ heads. Little has been made public about the content of the discussions, though a source in Kiev said “a lot of diplomatic activity has been going on and a concrete plan will be put to the Russians”.



Moscow, which has funnelled cash and, at times, troops into the territories despite denials, is keen to push the financial burden for supporting the regions back to Ukraine without losing political control, something Kiev sees as unacceptable.

A source close to the Russian team working on the Minsk negotiations said Moscow wanted to see elections in the separatist territories that would essentially confirm the current authorities as legitimate, as well as the legalisation of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Luhansk People’s Republic” armed forces as “people’s militias”.



In practice, this would mean Ukraine taking over financial responsibility for the regions while not winning back any real political control – something politicians in Kiev regard as completely unacceptable.

There are many in Kiev who believe it would be better to keep the status quo if this is the kind of deal on the tablemeaning Russia would have to support the territories. Few in Kiev are ready for the psychological and financial burden of reintegrating the territories politically and providing amnesty to those locals who fought.

“We can only have an election if there is a possibility for all Ukrainian parties to campaign there; I think it would take a couple of years,” said Ryabchyn. Western diplomats want an election with international monitors, free campaigning for Ukrainian political parties and votes by internally displaced persons, but it is difficult to imagine how this could take place in the current climate, given Russia’s demands.

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With the EU due to decide on the renewal of sanctions against Russia for a further year before a summit at the end of the month, there is a sense that both Moscow and Kiev want to give the impression they are working to implement Minsk without making concessions. Russia is keen to avoid a renewal of sanctions though a number of European diplomats said despite splits in the bloc, they expect a one-year rollover. The bigger EU countries, and the US, have been adamant that until the Minsk agreements are fulfilled, there can be no talk of lifting sanctions, but some EU countries who are more sympathetic to Moscow want a proper discussion before a decision is taken.



“We are basically now in a fight over the renewal of the sanctions,” said Ryabchyn. “Both sides are trying to show goodwill without actually making any real progress.”

Khodakovsky, the separatist leader, said the most likely outcome was an uneasy continuation of the status quo, which could last for years.

“It’s like closing down a nuclear reactor. You can’t just pour water on it or you get Chernobyl. You have to leave it to cool down for some time.”