On Monday, January 25, an extraordinary meeting of the working group on security issues took place in the videoconference mode at the initiative of the Donetsk People’s Republic in connection with the sharp deterioration of the situation along the entire line of contact over the past week and the tragic consequences of the military provocations by the AFU. More details were provided by the DPR Representative Office to the JCCC.
Representative of the Republic Alexei Nikonorov cited the facts of armed aggression of the Ukrainian side: damage to three residential buildings in Staromikhailovka, the use of weapons prohibited by the Minsk Agreements, the use of a combat UAV by the AFU, which resulted in the death of a defender of the Republic.
Alexei Nikonorov drew the participants’ attention to the fact that most of the ceasefire violations by the armed forces of Ukraine occur directly in the areas where repair and restoration activities are conducted.
“It is perplexing that at the previous meeting on January 18, the Ukrainian side raised the issue of the need to restore the branch of the gas pipeline at the Maryinka-Krasnogorovka gas distribution station as soon as possible, but 5 days after the provision of parallel security guarantees, the AFU intensified firing in this direction in the immediate vicinity of the area of the planned activities.
Therefore, we emphasize that it is precisely because of the position of the Ukrainian side that there is currently no opportunity to activate the mechanism of security guarantees: it was during the validity of the parallel security guarantees that our soldier died as a result of the flagrant violation by the AFU.
And that is why we declare with full responsibility that as long as the Ukrainian side continues this vicious practice and no effective mechanism for maintaining ceasefire is developed, there can be no question of any events at the line of contact. Official Kiev has not cared about the fate of citizens who have depended on the work of the gas distribution station for almost two years, despite the fact that we proposed back then an effective mechanism to unblock the repair and restoration work at this infrastructure facility.
And if the Ukrainian leadership hoped to take PR advantage from this sensitive topic for the civilian population within the framework of the upcoming meeting at the level of Н4 advisors, than it is a failed attempt to earn credibility and authority, mildly speaking,” the representative of the Republic stressed.
Alexei Nikonorov stressed that the key issue to prevent further escalation at the line of contact is the agreement and signing of an updated package of measures to strengthen the ceasefire, which will resolve all disputed points and clearly spell out the obligations of the parties to the conflict when it comes to compliance with the ceasefire regime.
In turn, the representative of Ukraine to the working group on security issues of the Contact Group said at the beginning of the meeting that he considers the attacks on the territory of the Republic falsified, as well as their consequences.
“Despite the fact that the final consolidated document of the measures has been under the consideration of the working group for four months, the Ukrainian delegation not only did not begin to negotiate it, but also did not get acquainted with the wording of the proposal.
Using various demagogic techniques, accusing the republics and pushing their playbooks about the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation, the Ukrainian delegation has avoided substantive discussion in every way possible, choosing the tactic of delaying,” Nikonorov reported.
The most important issues, such as the interaction of the JCCC in its current composition, the actual work of the coordination mechanism to prevent violations and rectify those registered, the prevention of offensive actions, the conduct of investigations, and the disciplinary responsibility of the violators, remained unresolved because of the position of representatives of the Ukrainian side.
