Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin commented on the statement published on behalf of the President of Ukraine on the official website, which says that Kiev’s main objective is «to return the temporarily occupied territories exclusively on the Ukrainian terms.»
“What occupied territories is this about? If this is about the territories of the Donbass republics — who has occupied them? Natives of Donetsk, Makeyevka, Shakhtyorsk and Novoazovsk, who have been living in these cities throughout their lives and have not left even after Ukraine had begun shelling them?
Apparently, in 2014, when the conflict was unleashed in Donbass, not everyone could keep track of events due to tight tour schedule. I will remind you. The conflict began precisely because the residents of Donbass found it fundamentally unacceptable to live to the «Ukrainian terms.» The Donbass people have clearly indicated their rejection of these very terms, including in Ilovaisk and Debaltsevo. And now the Minsk process is the only mechanism through which the parties have increasingly dim chances of resolving peacefully the conflicts that have arisen.
However, Kiev does not care either about its international obligations under the Minsk agreements, or about the resumption of peace in Donbass. Nor does it care about the fate of millions of residents, which is an empty phrase for the Ukrainian officials.
Nevertheless, there is only one path of peace Ukraine can follow, and it is impossible without a transparent, direct and effective dialogue with us at the Minsk venue. Therefore, it is essential that the Ukrainian authorities stop issuing ultimatums and big words and proceed to fulfilling their obligations,” Denis Pushilin said.
