Negotiators cannot agree on the borders of security zones in the Donbas

Photo: Reuters

The leadership of Ukraine does not rule out the possibility of exchange of territories with the self-proclaimed republics in the Donbas region in order to create a buffer zone in the region. At the moment, the main points of dispute on the map are the Donetsk airport and the Debaltsevo region.

Two weeks of negotiations

Yesterday the contact group responsible for delineating the buffer zone of security between the positions of forces of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) and representatives of the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) continued its work in Soledar (Donetsk oblast), stated Press Secretary of the ATO Vladyslav Seleznev. He noted that Co-chairman and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Armed Forces Yuriy Dumanskiy represents the Ukrainian side, while a group of Russian soldiers under the leadership of Assistant Commander of Land Forces of Russia Aleksandr Lentsov is participating in the negotiations.

“So far no agreements have been reached on demarcation and my statement regarding this issue was not properly interpreted by the mass media. Indeed, a plan of the agreement is being drafted, but the other side of the contact group has a particular opinion regarding the clauses of the agreement. So far, until a full compromise is not reached, there is no point in talking about the signing of this document,” said Seleznev.

Noteworthy, on October 11 the premier of the self-proclaimed DPR Oleksandr Zakharchenko declared the signing of an agreement on “a regime of silence” with further removal of military formations and demarcation of a buffer zone between the two sides. He said Ukraine agreed to move out ATO forces from the Donetsk airport and the village of Pesky situated nearby.

On Sunday official representative of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission Iryna Hudyma told Capital that she is not aware of the signing of any agreements on demarcation of a security buffer zone.

“Nothing has been decided about the buffer zone so far. The DPR and Ukrainian checkpoints remain in place. Combats continue at the airport and Debaltsevo is surrounded from all sides by separatists. These are two points of contention on the map,” a deputy of the Donetsk City Council told Capital on condition of anonymity.

A source of Capital in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on October 10 Dumanskiy indeed signed an agreement with Zakharchenko, but the document was about observance of the peace regime. The two sides also defined three main categories of issues for establishing the 30-km security zone – specifically, exchange of prisoners of war, control over populated areas and administrative control in the security zone.

“They do not want Ukrainian administration in populated areas, are demanding that it abandon the airport in Donetsk and withdraw troops 15 kilometers away. Nobody will sign an agreement on such terms and negotiations will be protracted at the highest level of state leadership,” a source told Capital. He also noted that Ukraine is ready to discuss the issue of removing law enforcement bodies from the airport in Donetsk and did not raise the issue of the return of Novoazovsk, although control over it gives DPR an access to the Sea of Azov. “The strategic control of Novoazovsk is currently useless as the port and city infrastructure has been destroyed, a source of the publication said.

Noteworthy is that the newly appointed head of the Donetsk Oblast State Administration Oleksandr Kikhtenko said there is a possibility of exchange of territories. He also noted that the cease fire regime that was agreed to on October 10 is being observed.

As a reminder, talks on creation of a buffer zone began two weeks ago. They were held on the territory controlled by the ATO and the territories of the self-proclaimed republics. Russian military forces are actively participating in these talks.

Minsk-Milan

On the evening of October 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoiga to recall the army from training in the Rostov region to its permanent stationing. Assistant Director of the Foreign Policy Program and International Security at the Razumkov Center Oleksiy Melnyk associates these actions with the ACEM Summit planned for October 16-17 in Milan during which Putin was to meet with Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko.

A source of Capital in the Presidential Administration said that Normandy format of the meeting with the participation of French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel is quite possible. “All sides say the starting point, namely the Minsk agreements, must be fulfilled. But there are a number of issues that must be directly discussed with Putin,” expert on international issues Serhiy Tereshko told Capital.

As a reminder, the creation of the buffer zone in the Donbas region was envisaged by the Minsk agreements, which Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE and the DPR and LPR signed on September 5.