Ukraine position on Donbas little changed after Berlin meeting, Kuleba indicates

Little has changed
in Ukraine’s negotiation position in talks with Russia to resolve the war in
Donbas, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba indicated in a summary of the Ukrainian
delegation’s June 2 visit to Berlin in a Facebook post the next day. The
Ukrainian delegation stressed that more opportunities for compromise will open
up only when a cease-fire is achieved, and Kuleba said the Germans share this
“Security First” position. “From year to year, Ukraine has demonstrated its
readiness to make wise compromises in the issues of the peculiarities of
self-governance after the return of temporary occupied territories to Ukraine,
but we will never agree to any special status based on the Russian scenario,
veto rights on national (Ukrainian) decisions and other demands, which
undermine our sovereignty,” he wrote.

Kuleba didn’t reveal
any new agreements or strategies reached with the Germans in his post. He made no mention of the compromise
proposal floated by Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak that the
Russian-backed governments in Donetsk and Luhansk (collectively known as
“Donbas”) could be represented by former residents, currently in Ukraine, who
are members of civil society. Meanwhile, Yermak told reporters in Berlin that a
similar visit is being planned to Paris to discuss the situation.

Ukraine’s red lines,
or positions can’t be compromised, remain no dialogue with representatives of
the occupying administrations, no federalization schemes invented by the
Kremlin, and no elections until Ukraine returns control of its border with
Russia in Donbas and foreign soldiers are withdrawn. Kuleba posted his Berlin
Summary after the Ukrainian delegation became the first diplomatic delegation
to visit the German capital since the coronavirus pandemic, which he described
as “a powerful signal from Germany.” He said the two sides have “frank and
detailed” discussions about the conflict, during which it was “critically
important to maximally accurately understand each other before entering
negotiations with the Russians.”

Zenon Zawada: The
most positive thing to come from these talks is the German statement on June 3
reiterating its opposition to Russia’s return to the G7 group of nations for as
long as it continues to illegally occupy the Crimean peninsula. Otherwise, the
negotiations to resolve the war in Donbas will remain stuck in its current dead
end indefinitely, barring some unexpected “black swan” event.