Contents tagged with Donbas

  • Separatist commander: Accession of the Donbas to Russia is impossible

    Influential military commander of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Khodakovsky, has reported that Russia will not be incorporating the Donbas into its territory and that this issue is no longer relevant in Russian society. This was said by Khodakovsky during his video conference in Donetsk. The commander is also known as being at the forefront of the uprising of the new government in 2014.

    “I don’t think that we can talk about the accession in the near future as it’s …

  • Ukrainian Intelligence: Separatist snipers have arrived in Yasynuvata

    Ukrainian Intelligence has announced that Russian-backed separatist snipers have arrived in Yasynuvata, Ukrainskaya Pravda reported, citing a statement posted on the Facebook page of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on Tuesday.

    Ukrainian Intelligence also reported that several trucks and buses transporting servicemen and material arrived from Russia to the Donbas. In particular, in the town of Novoazovsk in the Donetsk region, two Russian trucks …

  • Putin: Russia is ready to be a mediator in eastern Ukraine

    Russia is ready to be a mediator in settling the conflict in the Donbas and a guarantor of possible agreements, the President of the Russian Federation stated.

    "The only thing we can do is to create conditions for the negotiation process and take part in it as mediators and guarantors of the agreements reached,” Putin said in Bishkek, Russian Interfax news agency reported. "That is what we want and will do if our partners in Kyiv want."

    Everything else, according to the President of Russian …

  • Poroshenko: Ukraine will not sell the Crimea in return for a 'good solution' in the Donbas

    The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, said that the question of the ownership of the Crimea is not negotiable and the option to exchange the Peninsula for the settlement of the situation in the Donbas region is unacceptable.

    "We will never trade the Crimea for a solution regarding the Donbass region.  The Crimea is a Ukrainian territory," Poroshenko said during the 13th Annual Meeting of the Yalta European Strategy, September 16, 2016 in Kyiv.

    According to him, a dangerous precedent …

  • Klimkin: There wont be negotiations until Russia withdraws from eastern Ukraine

    During a meeting with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Germany and France, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Jean-Marc Ayrault, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pavlo Klimkin, stated that Ukraine needs a guarantee that Russia will implement the Minsk Agreements in order to continue the work in the Normandy format. According to Klimkin, Ukraine wants to see clear and coherent steps from Russia in order for the conflict in the Donbas to be resolved.

    “We fully understand that we need a …

  • Moscow urges Kyiv to respond to separatists' unilateral ceasefire

    Moscow has urged Kyiv to respond to the ‘silence’ mode initiative of Donetsk and Luhansk in order for a long-term ceasefire to be implemented in Donbas. This was reported by the press service of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation.

    The ministry noted that the decision of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) to declare this ceasefire is an important step in stabilizing the situation.

    “We regard this decision as an important and …

  • French Foreign Minister announces signing of document to begin withdrawal of troops from eastern Ukraine

    Next week an agreement may be signed on the withdrawal of troops from three pilot areas, as stated by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Jean-Marc Ayrault, at a joint briefing with the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pavlo Klimkin, and the Foreign Minister of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

    "Turning to security issues, I want to say that next week there will be an important phase, which may at the same time give us both consolidation of these …

  • Separatists in eastern Ukraine to hold summit of unrecognized states

    The leaders of the so-called DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) announced their intention to hold a summit of “unrecognized states of the world.”

    “In February or March, we will hold a summit for the unrecognized, as well as partially recognized, states or territories with no official status. We could be visited by, for example, the Basques, Flanders, Venice, Texas,” the foreign minister of the DPR, Alexander Kofman, said.

    According to Kofman, negotiations with the separatists in other countries …

  • Kyiv will not halt water supplies to eastern Ukraine

    Ukraine cannot stop the supply of water to the occupied part of the Donbas region, the Vice Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Regional Development, Construction and Housing, Hennadiy Zubko, said to journalists during his visit to the Donetsk region.

    "Water is a human product and we cannot stop or interrupt the supply of water to the occupied territory. Therefore, the Donbas Water state enterprise and the Popasna water facilities supply water to the occupied territory. Yes, today it …

  • Joint Ceasefire Control Center announces escalation of situation in eastern Ukraine

    The Ukrainian contingent of the Joint Ceasefire Control Center (JCCC) drew attention to the fact that after the Tripartite Contact Group in Minsk’s decision on August 26 this year on an indefinite ceasefire, the "silence regime” started from midnight of August 31st.

    During the first two days the situation along the entire front line returned to a semblance of control. However, as early as September 2nd, separatist groups again began to use weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements. One …