Russia is ready to take measures to prevent the conflict in Donbass from returning to a hot phase. This was announced on March 10 by the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrei Rudenko.
“We are closely monitoring the situation, and all measures will be taken to minimize the risks of such things, including at the diplomatic level,” he told Interfax.
Earlier that day, the deputy head of the Institute of CIS Countries, Vladimir Zharikhin, called the statements of the Ukrainian authorities about their readiness for a peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbass as part of the domestic political company of the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Commenting on the information about the allegedly existing plan for a peaceful settlement of the situation in the region, proposed by France and Germany, Zharakhin noted that he had not heard anything about the initiatives of these countries. He noted that the plan was not published anywhere or announced by the leaders of France and Germany. In addition, Zharikhin noted that Russia was not aware of the existence of such a document.
On the eve, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Yermak, said that Kiev had finalized the plan for a peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbass, proposed by Paris and Berlin. According to him, the new concrete plan meets the spirit of the Minsk agreements and complies with the norms of international law. He also added that now the plan is awaiting approval from Russia.
On January 15, Zelensky, in a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said that there was practically no progress in a peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbass.
Since 2014, Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the residents of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup in Ukraine. The Ukrainian side declares that it is waging a war against Russia. Moscow has repeatedly noted that it is not a party to the internal Ukrainian conflict, and called on Kiev to fulfill the Minsk agreements and conduct direct negotiations with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.
The issue of resolving the situation in Donbass is being discussed, among other things, at the meetings of the contact group in Minsk, which since the fall of 2014 adopted three documents regulating steps to de-escalate the conflict. But even after the armistice agreements between the conflicting parties, shootings continue.