Contact Group suggests creating 10 security zones in Donbass, strengthening OSCE mission
July 13, 17:47 UTC+3
Durable peace in Donbass can be established only if the solution of security problems goes in parallel with the implementation of the Minsk agreements
Durable peace in Donbass can be established only if the solution of security problems goes in parallel with the implementation of the Minsk agreements
© Stepan Petrenko/TASS
MINSK, July 13 /TASS/. The Contact Group for the
settlement in eastern Ukraine is considering a possibility of creating up to 10
security zones on the line of contact in Donbass, Boris Gryzlov, the Russian
representative in the Contact Group, said after the group’s regular meeting in
Minsk, Belarus.
He told journalists that the Contact Group had
focused on security issues. "The steps, which were discussed on Wednesday,
included the disengagement of the military units of the sides in conflict on
some sections of the line of contact with an aim to reduce the number of
incidents involving the use of arms," Gryzlov said.
"Another seven zones could be added to the
existing three soon. I would like to emphasize that they include territories
adjacent to the checkpoints, which is extremely important for civilian
security. The Contact Group is discussing whether all the checkpoints on the
line of contact should become security zones.
"For more effective control, it is necessary to
strengthen the OSCE mission in the vicinity of the contact line," the
Russian representative stressed.
Gryzlov also said that durable peace in Donbass
could be established only if the solution of security problems went parallel to
the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
"The first thing the Ukrainian parliament
should do is to adopt a law on the special status of the territories in
question. The text of the law will apparently require preliminary approval by
the "Normandy four" group and the Contact Group. After that, the law
can be expected to become the basis for settling the conflict," Gryzlov
stressed.
DPR insists on adopting document on disengaging sides
in Donbass
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR)
insists on soonest adoption of the document on disengaging sides of the
conflict in Donbass, press secretary of DPR’s envoy to the Contact Group
Viktoria Talakina wrote on her Facebook page on Wednesday.
"Shellings of Gorlovka, Zaytsevo, Sakhanka and
outskirts of Donetsk, dozens of damaged residential houses, injured civilians
became the main topic at the meeting. (DPR’s envoy) Denis Pushilin insisted on
the necessity of soonest coordination of the document on disengaging the sides
which is being developed by the security subgroup," Talakina wroteб
She added that Kiev forces occupy more and more
"grey zones," provoke militiamen, which is "the main reason the
situation is deteriorating along the contact line." "The document
obliging the sides to withdraw forces and observe the buffer distance, will
deescalate tensions and considerably reduce the number of shellings," she
noted.
The Minsk Accords form the foundation for settling
the Donbass conflict. Apart from suggesting a ceasefire, weapons withdrawal,
amnesty and the resumption of economic ties, they stress the need of a deep
constitutional reform in Ukraine aimed at de-centralization of power and the
granting of special status to the separate districts of the Donetsk and Lugansk
regions.
However, the plan has remained unrealized until
recently because of systematic violations of the silence regime. The Ukrainian
side has refused to implement the amnesty clause and continues its economic
blockade of Donbass. None of the points linked to a political settlement has
been implemented: no constitutional reform has been carried out; the law on the
region’s special status has not taken effect and no law on elections in Donbass
has been passed.
Instead, the Ukrainian side continues insisting,
justifying it by security needs, on the restoration of control over the section
of its border with Russia - something, which is supposed to happen only after
the elections in accordance with the Minsk Accords.
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