The Ukrainian authorities continue to evade compliance with the ceasefire in the Donbass. This was announced on Wednesday, December 16, by the plenipotentiary of Russia in the Contact Group on Settlement in Eastern Ukraine Boris Gryzlov following the results of the group’s last meeting this year.
“The Ukrainian military-political leadership continues to take actions that make it possible to judge the intentions, if possible, to resort to forceful resolution of the conflict,” he said.
Gryzlov said that Kiev is submitting draft documents that provide for the immediate return of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to their locations in the Donbass, while the future conditions for a political settlement are still kept secret.
“Although today, according to the OSCE, the ceasefire is ‘generally respected’, the number of violations is growing. In December, Ukrainian shelling of residential areas of Donetsk continues to be recorded, ”he added.
In addition, Gryzlov added that the additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire, agreed by the Contact Group in July, were “distorted and disavowed” by Kiev.
In early December, the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) for Donbass, Leonid Kravchuk, announced that the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine would approve “Plan B” to resolve the situation in Donbass in early 2021.
On December 15, the Verkhovna Rada extended the law on the special status of Donbass until December 31, 2021. This decision was supported by 304 parliamentarians with the required minimum of 226 votes. At the same time, the law does not include the Steinmeier formula, spelled out in the Minsk agreements, and regulating the procedure for holding local elections in the region.
The Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the residents of Donbass in 2014. Negotiations on the settlement of the situation are being conducted within the framework of the trilateral contact groups in Minsk (Ukraine, Russia, OSCE), as well as in the Normandy format (Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine).
At the same time, Moscow regularly points out that Kiev is not fulfilling its obligations under the Minsk agreements.