Contents tagged with Donbas

  • U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine: The U.S. does not want to join the Normandy Four

    The United States is not going to join the Donbas negotiations in Normandy Format, said U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch on Radio Liberty."I do not think that there are plans for the U.S. to join the Normandy format now. But this does not mean that the U.S. is not active at the diplomatic level. We cooperate with Ukraine, we have consultations with France and Germany. Periodically we will also hold meetings with the Russians, to see whether there is a way for constructive progress …

  • Klimkin: If Russia does not remove heavy weapons, they could potentially have their own bases in the Donbas

    Heavy weapons of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbas should be returned to the Russian Federation, and should not be stored on site during the local elections. If not, Russia could potentially then have their own military bases in the area as per the OSCE mandate. This was stated by the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pavlo Klimkin, in an interview with Levyi Bereg.“One of the OSCE’s proposals is to establish a warehouse in Donbas where military equipment and weapons could be stored …

  • Ukrainian Military Command links increased separatist attacks to forthcoming negotiations in Minsk

    According to the Ukrainian military, separatists have increased their attacks along the demarcation line in eastern Ukraine ahead of the forthcoming meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk which is due to begin on November 9.

    According to the the speaker of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Vladyslav Voloshyn, this way the separatists are trying to gain leverage that they can use to influence Ukraine at the meeting in Minsk.

    “On November 9, the meeting of the Trilateral …

  • Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported that military equipment and fuel arrive to DPR from Russia

    According to Ukrinform, the speaker of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Andriy Lysenko, reported that equipment and fuel have been delivered to the separatist-controlled areas of Ilovaysk and Khartsyzk in the Donbas.“The railway station in Ilovaysk received a delivery of two trains with military equipment and logistical support for combat operations, as well as six tanks carrying fuels and lubricants. A total of nine wagons carrying ammunition, food and winter clothing also arrived at …

  • Ukrainian passports recognized as legitimate in the Luhansk People's Republic

    Authorities of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic announced innovations in the seperatist republic’s passport policy. According to a new document adopted on 28 October 2016 by the Council of Ministers of the LPR, Ukrainian passports of residents of the occupied territory of the Luhansk region will be recognized as legal, as reported by separatists’ media.

    "The section ‘General provisions’ was supplemented by a paragraph that states that a passport document issued before this regulation, …

  • Ukrainian government official: OSCE doesn't have the resources for an armed mission in the Donbas

    The issue of deploying a special armed mission to the Donbas may be passed on to the UN from the OSCE due to a lack of financial resources. 112.ua reported that this was stated by the Deputy Minister for the temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons of Ukraine, George Tuka.

    He believes that the budget proposals of the Western partners for arming of the observational OSCE mission, and for increasing its staff to between 500 and 1,000 people, are not enough.

    “It is …

  • The OSCE recorded the transfer of military and weapons from Russia to the Donbas

    The OSCE special monitoring mission (SMM) in Ukraine has recorded the transfer of military and weapons from Russia to the occupied territory of the Donbas. “Despite the denial from combined separatists forces, the SMM continues to document evidence that Russia is sending its forces and weapons to Ukraine,” according to the statement of the United States Ambassador for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Daniel Baer.

    According to him, taking advantage of the fact that the …

  • Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs: Some OSCE members are working for Russia

    The resolution of the conflict in the Donbas will not move forward until the OSCE gains a full control of the situation there.

    Among the members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission there are those who work for Russian Federation. This was stated by the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pavlo Klimkin, while on air with “The left shore with Sonya Koshkina” TV show of Ukrainian Channel 24.

    “What is the issue with OSCE being more effective? Of course inside the organization there are …

  • Foreign Minister Klimkin excluded the possibility of holding elections in the Donbas

    Even if all the security arrangements are fulfilled, elections will not be held in the so-called “grey zones,” which have been occupied by Donetsk and Luhansk separatists since September 2014. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin, explained the matter on the Channel 24 TV program Levyi Bereg with Sonya Koshkina on the 27th of October, 2016.

    "Even if we hold the elections according to all security conditions in all the gray zones that were occupied after September, 2014, …

  • Herashchenko says that the UN was surprised that Churkin 'shut her up'

    Iryna Herashchenko, the representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group reported to UN representatives on violations of children’s and women’s rights in the Donbas.

    She stated on Facebook that she met with the Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who is also the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. They had discussions in the offices of the special representative of the UN Secretary-General on …