Zelensky proposes new initiatives to resolve war in Donbas

Ukraine and Russia should withdraw their military
forces from the separation line in Donbas gradually as part of designated
sectors, Ukrainian President Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference in
his Feb. 15 speech as his latest initiative to resolve the armed conflict.
According to the sectoral principle, “the separation line is broken into sectors.
A gradual withdrawal of forces and hardware is carried out. A transition from
one sector to the next is possible only after the OSCE special monitoring
mission verifies that a sector is free from any illegal armed formations,
armies and military hardware,” he said during his two-day visit to the annual
conference, as reported by the eurointegration.com.ua news site.

As another initiative to resolve the warfare, Zelensky
proposed establishing policing of the currently occupied territory with
officials from Ukraine, the OSCE, as well as the local Donetsk and Luhansk
governments. This initiative is currently being discussed at the Trilateral
Contact Group negotiations in Minsk, he told the Ukrainian Lunch organized by
the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, as reported by eurointegration.com.ua. The
proposal refers only to the occupied territory, not its border with Russia, the
site said, citing an anonymous source in the delegation. In his conference
speech, Zelensky stressed the need for Ukraine to control the border in order
to fulfill its goal of holding local elections in Donbas in October.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, along with key U.S.
diplomats, issued statements on Feb. 14 rejecting a program to resolve the
warfare in Donbas that was proposed by the Russian Council on International
Affairs, in cooperation with numerous international experts, and published on
the security conference’s website on Feb. 14. Among the proposed “12 steps to
strengthen security in Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic region” are creating more
border crossings along the separation line, renewing free trade between Russia
and Ukraine, developing a schedule of gradual removal of sanctions against
Russia (before the Minsk Accords are completely fulfilled), determining
priority spheres for renewing Russian-EU ties, and initiating a national
dialogue on Ukraine’s new identity taking into account Russian concerns. The
program proposes a “constructive dialogue” on Crimea, without
mentioning restoring its sovereignty.

Zenon Zawada: Zelensky’s initiatives
to resolve the war in Donbas are based on trusting the Russians in having a
genuine desire to fulfill their end of an agreement aimed at establishing
genuine peace. The approach of the Poroshenko administration was based on the
notion that the Russian government is not to be trusted to fulfill jointly any
peace plan, which is shared by most of Ukraine’s pro-Western coalition
(liberals, globalists, nationalists, war veterans). These groups are already
opposing Zelensky’s peace initiatives, which they consider to be capitulation.
This opposition will intensify if the initiatives are approved and begin to be
implemented. We share the view that peace initiatives relying on Russia’s
goodwill are likely to end badly for Ukraine.

We also share the view held by the pro-Western
coalition that Russia’s ultimate goal with Ukraine is to bring as much of its
territory under Kremlin control by 2024, whether in its entirety or fragmented
portions. This can be accomplished by Ukraine fulfilling the Minsk Accords on
Russian conditions (by granting Donbas special status – or de facto autonomy –
and disproportionate influence in Ukrainian affairs). Another tactic is luring
the Zelensky administration into setting off civil conflict by accepting
various peace conditions that are unacceptable to the pro-Western forces, who
will resist with protests and possibly more. A third tactic is granting Russian
dual citizenship to millions of Ukrainian citizens, which is in the works.