Contents tagged with Donbas

  • The Kremlin rejects idea of the US joining Normandy format talks

    The Press Secretary of Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that Russia does not support the idea of the US participation in the Normandy Four negotiations to resolve the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, reports Radio Liberty. Peskov also noted that the United States could use its influence on Ukraine.

    Peskov’s comment was a response to the statement of the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who earlier said that it would be hard to find a solution to the Ukrainian conflict without the …

  • Ukrainian Defense Minister: Shelling by pro-Russian forces preventing withdrawal of troops in Zolote

    Preparation for the withdrawal of forces and equipment from around the city of Zolote is successfully underway from a technical point of view, but the disengagement cannot begin due to ongoing shelling by the separatists, said Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zahorodniuk, as cited by Interfax-Ukraine.

    “From a technical point of view, the preparation for disengagement in this area has been going quite successfully, but the shelling is not allowing us to start it. I note once again that the …

  • Ukraine intends to resume train traffic to Donbas

    Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said during the talk show “Freedom of Speech by Savik Shuster” that in the future new Ukrainian government plans to resume railway traffic with areas of the Donbas that currently are not controlled by Kyiv.

    Discussing restoration of the bridge in Stanytsia Luhanska (to the North of Luhansk), Prystaiko assured that car traffic will be resumed on the bridge in a month and a half. He said, there will be other bridges, new crossing points. "Perhaps there …

  • Zelensky: All of Ukraine will participate in writing of Donbas special status law

    The Ukrainian government will work alongside “the whole community of Ukraine” as it writes the new law on the special status of the Donbas, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video message published by Radio LIberty.

    “There will be a new law. Will we draft it ourselves and pass it quickly? No. We will write it together, in cooperation and public discussion with the whole community of Ukraine, without crossing a single red line. So, there is no capitulation, no surrendering of …

  • DPR and LPR demand a say in new Donbas special status law

    The ringleaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) have demanded that certain conditions be met before local elections can be held. In particular, they want to be involved in the formulation of the new law on the special status of the Donbas that was announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday.

    “Otherwise we will consider them a direct and gross violation of the Minsk Agreements, and they will be legally null and void to us. We want …

  • Ukraine agrees to hold OSCE-supervised elections in Donbas

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced during a press conference that Ukraine has approved the Steinmeier Formula, which was the “final obstacle” to a new Normandy Format summit.

    He said that the Steinmeier Formula consists of several provisions. Approving these terms assumes that a special manner of local self-governance will be implemented in several Donbas regions and that elections will be held there. The details of the implementation of this plan will be formulated during the …

  • Sentsov: All significant battles in Donbas were fought by Russian army

    Oleh Sentsov, a Ukrainian filmmaker who until recently was imprisoned in Russia, has described his conversations with militants from Russia and from the Donetsk People’s Republic while in prison. They did not hide the fact that, from the very start of the aggression, all of the fighting against the Armed Forces of Ukraine was done by the Russian Army. Regular Russian troops prepared for the annexation of Crimea, Novaya Gazeta reports.

    According to Sentsov, he met a soldier from Russia’s GRU in …

  • Poland donates more than $1 million to UN to help residents of Donbas

    Poland transferred funds to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to help those in need who reside in the territories of the Donbas  which are controlled by pro-Russian militants, reports Polish Mission to the UN on its Twitter.

    According to the report, more than $1 million was transferred for humanitarian aid to the residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

    The necessary assistance will be provided to the most vulnerable, including the elderly and …

  • Russia demands inclusion of DPR and LPR as Steinmeier Formula signatories

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Kommersant in an interview that the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) are members of the Trilateral Contact Group and should sign the Steinmeier Formula.

    “We are extremely upset and concerned about what happened in the Contact Group. At the meeting of foreign policy advisors in Paris on September 11, there was a rather substantive discussion about how exactly the Contact Group should approve this formula. In the end, without …

  • Zelensky: Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov offered to end the war in Donbas

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the UN General Assembly in New York, reports Ukrayinska Pravda news outlet.

    According to the Ukrainian President, Russian Foreign Minister approached him first and said that he wants to have a personal meeting. Zelensky added that after that, Lavrov said: "We want for the war in the Donbas to end."

    "If you are ready, let's end the war. Give us our territories, and let's exchange …