The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet and negotiate on the contact line in Donbass. He stated this in his address to the Ukrainian leader, published on April 22 by the Donetsk news agency.
Pushilin urged Zelensky to invite not the leaders of third countries to the contact line, but to go there himself “for an honest and open conversation” with representatives of the republics.
“Only this time I suggest you not hide in the bushes on the second line of defense, but take courage and get to the hottest spots. To the area of the villages of Staromikhaylovka, Opytnoe, Veseloye, to Zaitsevo and Aleksandrovka. Come there, see with your own eyes what your troops have done, I don’t know whether they are under your control or not, ”the DPR head stressed.
At the same time, he clarified that if Zelensky refuses to visit the contact line, then the heads of the republics are ready for debates with the President of Ukraine and online. However, as Pushilin specified, they must be public.
The head of the DPR also noted that the republic requires a dialogue so that the residents of Donbass hear and the shelling stops.
Earlier on the same day, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), Leonid Pasechnik, also invited Zelensky to meet in Donbass. He said he was ready to hold a meeting with the Ukrainian leader at any point along the line of contact.
Zelensky himself on April 20 proposed a meeting to Russian President Vladimir Putin “anywhere” in Donbass. According to him, the different views of the two countries on the past and on the future can be viewed not as a problem, but as an opportunity.
The Russian leader said to this that if the President of Ukraine wants to develop bilateral relations, he will receive him in Moscow at any time. At the same time, Putin pointed out that if we are talking about discussing the problems of Donbass, then, first of all, the Ukrainian authorities need to meet with the leaders of the DPR and LPR, and then discuss these problems with third countries.
Since 2014, Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the residents of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities blame Russia for the current situation. Moscow has repeatedly noted that it is not a party to the internal Ukrainian conflict.