Donbas peace talks reach agreement to repair Stanytsia Luhanska bridge

The Trilateral Contact Group to resolve the conflict
in Donbas reached an agreement on July 31 to repair the main bridge in the town
of Stanytsia Luhanska and remove land mines from the surrounding territory
starting today, said Darka Olifer, the spokeswoman for former President Kuchma,
who represents Ukraine in the talks. The process of removing the landmines,
followed by the dismantling of nearby fortification structures and eventual repairs,
should take several months, said Martin Sajdik, the OSCE special representative
to the talks that are held in Minsk.

Stanytsia Luhanska is a town of about 13,000 residents
located near the separation line in the Luhansk region whose territory had been
split by Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces. On July 1, President Zelensky
announced that the town was fully demilitarized, symbolizing his first
accomplishment in achieving peace in Donbas.

Zenon Zawada: The OSCE
reported 75 violations of the “harvest ceasefire” in just the first 24 hours
since it was officially declared on July 21, with many more violations since
then, including injuries. Nonetheless, Sajdik said on July 31 that the
ceasefire has yielded “significant results,” citing no civilian casualties and
a significant drop in the rate of violations.

Indeed, Stanytsia Luhanska is the Zelensky
administration’s main accomplishment in the war in Donbas, which it will build
upon. We believe it’s possible to gradually achieve peace in this manner, one
town at a time. Yet such a process would take many years, and a significant
chunk of Zelensky’s electorate doesn’t want to wait that long to stop the
warfare. If Zelensky wants to achieve peace town-by-town, avoid capitulating to
Russia and maintain Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration course, he may have to
abandon this electorate demanding peace to the Opposition Platform.