Putin’s plan. Ukraine will be forced to agree with the Russian version of resolving the conflict in the Donbas region

Photo: Unian

Russian President Vladimir Putin presented his plan for stopping the war in the Donbas region. Although his proposal was severely criticized by Ukraine’s Premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk, President Petro Poroshenko avoided commenting on the so-called “Putin’s plan”, stating readiness to stop combat actions.

Sketches of Mongolia

Yesterday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation, following which the press service of the Kremlin stated that the points of view of the two presidents on stopping the bloodshed in the Donbas region “for the most part coincide”. Meanwhile, the press service of President Poroshenko announced the agreement on “complete cease fire”. Later, however, the information was corrected, though the Presidential Administration of Ukraine did not provide other details regarding the talks. In lieu of this, President Putin outlined his plan, which, as he claims, he drafted during his flight to Mongolia.

The proposals of the Russian president consist of seven steps. The first is to stop active offensive operations of the armed forces and armed militant formations in the southeast of Ukraine in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

Secondly, armed subdivisions of Ukraine should be diverted to a distance that eliminates the possibility of firing at populated towns with artillery and all forms of valley fire,” said Putin.

The third measure is international control of compliance with cease fire conditions in the safety zone. The fourth is excluding application of military aviation. The fifth is organizing the exchange of captives by the unconditional formula “all for all”. The sixth step is humanitarian corridors for the fleeing of refugees and delivery of humanitarian cargo to residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. “Finally, the last but not least, the seventh step is ensuring possibility of sending repair brigades to the cities in the Donbas to renovate the destroyed objects of the social and life-supporting infrastructures,” the head of state of Russia summarized.

Furthermore, Putin once again stated that his view of settlement of the situation in the Donbas is very close to that of Poroshenko. For this reason, Putin believes that final agreements between the authorities in Kyiv and representatives of the southeast of Ukraine can be reached by the contact group that plans to meet in Minsk on September 5.

Transnistria II

The leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic yesterday stated that they agree with the key points of “Putin’s plan”. However, Premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk called the proposal of the Russian president an attempt to freeze the conflict in the Donbas.
“This plan is an attempt to eyewash the international community before the NATO summit and evade inevitable decisions of the European Union on imposing a new wave of sanctions against Russia, said Yatsenyuk,” reminding that Russia failed to fulfill the previous agreements between diplomats. He called on Russia to withdraw its army and mercenaries from the east of Ukraine. “We are waiting for the decision of NATO and the European Union on halting the aggressor,” said Yatsenyuk.

This statement was made after the press conference of U.S. President Barack Obama, who paid an official visit to Estonia on the eve of the NATO summit. “Russia must reverse its course and leave Ukraine so that the latter can make a decision independently,” stated the U.S. president, who casts no doubt about the presence of the Russian army on Ukrainian territory. In connection with this, he called on NATO to help Kyiv modernize its army.

A source in the Presidential Administration explained to Capital that Ukraine would benefit from the cease fire as it needs to restore the combat capacity of the army, which sustained serious losses over the last several days in the Donbas.

Former press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleh Voloshin also believes that Putin’s plan is acceptable for official Kyiv. “The Presidential Administration already understood that the anti-terrorist operation is doomed to failure. On the other hand, Putin’s proposals offer a chance to stop the war and Donbas will de facto remain a part of Ukraine, which President Poroshenko will present as his victory. There will not be a creeping occupation because there will be international observers in the regions that will immediately register the presence of the Russian military forces,” Voloshin told Capital.

Expert on international relations Serhiy Tereshko believes that the Russian president wants to intercept the tactical initiative from Poroshenko. “Putin proposed his plan in lieu of Poroshenko’s plan on which the Ukrainian side and European intermediaries insisted. Putin wants events to develop according to his scenario, which will turn the Donbas region into a new Transnistria,” Tereshko said.
In his opinion, Putin is reckoning that with time Ukraine will be forced to form a confederation with the DNR and LNR, which will cut off the route to the EU and NATO. “Over the last several days Putin demonstrated how powerful he is from the military vantage point. Now he is proposing his peace plan, which means that Ukraine is left with no choice but to accept his proposal, to which Europe will gladly seize upon,” Tereshko is convinced. He said official Kyiv can only act through diplomatic channels and try to garner the support of the leading countries of the EU and the U.S.

The Presidential Administration of Ukraine did not officially comment on Putin’s proposal. In the evening Poroshenko made a statement in which he expressed his hope that the trilateral group in Minsk will start negotiations on the process of peaceful settlement of the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. He said all citizens of Ukraine want peace. For this reason he will fight for peace. “The Ukrainian people are totally in favor of this. Politicians want to play the war game. But I will not allow them to do so,” Poroshenko stressed.