Donetsk is categorically against the new plan for Donbass, which was proposed by OSCE Special Representative Martin Sajdik. This was announced today by the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Minister of Foreign Affairs, and negotiator of the Republic in Minsk, Natalya Nikonorova.

Earlier, on January 24, in an interview with the Austrian magazine Kleine Zeitung, Sajdik said that a new approach is needed for a settlement in Donbass, in which some UN transitional administration should appear in the territories beyond the control of Kiev, which will have both police and military powers. At the same time, the work experience of European structures in the Balkans will be actively used. According to the OSCE Special Representative, such a plan has already been proposed at the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in December 2018.

“The statement by OSCE Special Representative Martin Sajdik is fundamentally at odds with the agreements that were approved at the highest international level – by the UN Security Council. Moreover, the Package of Measures includes, among other things, the signature of the OSCE representative, which makes the document mandatory for execution by this international organization. Instead, we see the desire to sabotage the Minsk process from a senior OSCE official which questions the effectiveness of this reputable international organization, despite the fact that its direct responsibility is to coordinate and facilitate the implementation of the Minsk agreements,” Nikonorova said.

Donetsk, she continued, considers “categorically unacceptable any activity to undermine the implementation of the documents signed in Minsk, which set forth a single and uncontested plan for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Donbass”.

“In addition, in accordance with the Complex of measures, it is necessary to coordinate all aspects of a peaceful settlement with the Republic, and not just to “hear”our opinion,” stressed the head of the DPR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The DPR, for its part, calls upon Mr. Sajdik “not to jeopardize his professional reputation, undermining all the efforts of the parties to implement the Minsk agreements.”

The Minsk agreements, above all the February 12, 2015 set of measures, are at the core of the peaceful resolution of the conflict in the Donbass. It involves an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in the Donbass, the withdrawal of heavy weapons, the creation of a security zone, a discussion of the modalities for resuming benefits and pensions to residents of the DPR and the LPR, as well as constitutional reform in Ukraine, which should result in profound decentralization of government. At the same time, Donbass receives the right to its own detachments of the people’s militia, linguistic self-determination, cross-border cooperation with the Russian Federation, participation in the appointment of the heads of prosecution bodies and courts.

Source: DAN

Translation by Donbass Insider

Tags: DPR, Minsk agreements, OSCE, Peacekeepers, UN