Donbas exiles included in peace talks for first time

For the first time, exiles from the occupied
territories of Donetsk and Luhansk (collectively known as Donbas) were included
in a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group to resolve the armed conflict in
Donbas, the President’s Office website announced. The Ukrainian delegation at
the June 9 meeting, which occurred by videoconference, included journalist and
blogger Denys Kazanskiy, ostrov.org chief editor Serhiy Harmash, lawyer Vadym
Horan and medical doctor Kostiantyn Libster. These representatives were
included to implement the political requirements of the Minsk Accords, the
president’s office said.

“The issue is not the advisory council that was
planned to be created and which was opposed by society. The idea of creating
such a council was rejected and it won’t happen. The issue is the measures to
fulfill the Minsk Accords: points 11 and 12 refer to local elections in certain
districts, as well as the special status of these districts being discussed and
agreed upon with (their) representatives,” Kazanskiy wrote on his Facebook
page.

In response to the new delegation members, the members
of the Russian delegation who claim to represent Donetsk and Luhansk reacted
“nervously, uttered boorish words and attempted to provoke fights,” Kazanskiy
reported about the videoconference afterwards. “But everyone was ready for
this, which is why they reacted calmly. Trying to turn the situation to their
advantage in some way and save face, Luhansk People’s Republic representative
Rodion Miroshnik referred to us ‘advisory council representatives’ several
times. To which the conference’s moderator, Mr. Pierre Morel, stressed that the
advisory council wasn’t created.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel initiated a June 9
telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the armed
conflict in Donbas, the Russian Presidential Administration’s website reported
that day. The discussion expressed concern for the absence of progress in
fulfilling the Minsk Accords of 2015, as well as the decisions of Normandy Four
at the 2019 Paris summit.

Russian-backed fighters in Donbas shot at Ukrainian positions
16 times on June 9, including from 82 mm and 120 mm mortars prohibited by the
Minsk Accords, the Joint Forces Operation Facebook page reported. One Ukrainian
soldier was injured in the attacks, which also involved grenade launchers,
high-caliber machine guns and rifles. In a separate incident that morning, a
Ukrainian military vehicle struck a landmine in the vicinity of the Donetsk
factory town of Avdiyivka, injuring 10 passengers who received medical
treatment.

Zenon Zawada: Ukraine’s
European counterparts in the Normandy Four format (France and Germany) agreed
to this move because it comes nothing close to what the Russians had been
seeking, which is a separate advisory council with the Donbas representatives
being selected from the occupied territories, with the backing of the Russian
proxies. While highly symbolic, this development doesn’t bring the sides any
closer in trying to resolve the armed conflict. The Donbas peace talks remain
stuck at a dead end to which we see no way out, unless President Zelensky makes
the reckless move of putting the conflict’s resolution up for referendum.