Ukraine intends to bring the breakaway area in the eastern Donbas region back under its control by the end of the year, but has worked on various scenarios, Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Thursday
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th May, 2020) Ukraine intends to bring the breakaway area in the eastern Donbas region back under its control by the end of the year, but has worked on various scenarios, Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Thursday.
After becoming president, Zelenskyy made the Donbas peace process a key part of his agenda. In October 2019, he committed to the so-called Steinmeier formula of a political settlement in Donbas, stipulating special status for the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk regions and holding elections there. The decision proved to be controversial among the Ukrainian public, sparking protests throughout the country. The breakaway regions, in their turn, interpreted the move as an acknowledgment of their right for self-determination and said they would continue negotiations in Minsk to reach total sovereignty.
"We intend to do everything possible until the year's end, as evidenced by the intensification of the Trilateral Group's work. But we have worked on a plan B: what to do in case of this and what to do in case of that," Yermak said, as quoted by RBK-Ukraine news agency.
He stressed that Kiev would like to hold elections in the breakaway territories in October, but only under certain conditions.
"We need [to have] control over the border, possibly in cooperation with the international institutions, we need security and only then elections," Yermak added.
On Wednesday, the first deputy chairperson of the pro-Zelenskyy Servant of the People party's parliamentary group, Oleksandr Korniienko, expressed hope that Ukraine would hold its elections, planned for October 25, across the country, including the territories in Donbas that are currently beyond Kiev's control.
