Zelensky opposes amending Constitution, as demanded by Russia, party head says

Both The People’s Servant party, and its founder
Ukrainian President Zelensky, oppose amending the Ukrainian Constitution to
create a special status for the currently occupied territories of Donetsk and
Luhansk (collectively known as Donbas), party head Oleksandr Korniyenko told
the Interfax-Ukraine news agency in an interview published on Feb. 13. The
current legislation under review, which amends the Constitution to create
further decentralization, doesn’t contain any clause for special status, he
said. Meanwhile, the party is waiting for “a foreign policy signal from the
president” to begin rewriting the law on the special order of local governance
in Donbas, as Zelensky has vowed to do. The law has been renewed annually since
2015 in order for Ukraine to comply with its international obligations.

Recall, since the signing of the Minsk Accords in
February 2015, the Russian government has long demanded the Ukrainian
government amend its Constitution to create a special status of the occupied
territories of Donetsk and Luhansk in order to reintegrate them into the
Ukrainian state. Critics say this special status creates de facto autonomy for
these regions and will enable them to disrupt Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic
integration.

Zenon Zawada: This
statement means that Zelensky’s position on this critical issue is at odds with
the view of Andriy Yermak, the man he just appointed to serve as his righthand
man as President’s Office head. Yermak has said the Zelensky administration is willing to consider
amending the Constitution to enable some form of
decentralization for Donetsk and Luhansk, in particular (as opposed to the
current legislation, which applies decentralization to all regions of Ukraine).

Given how sensitive the Ukrainian public, particularly
the war veterans and nationalists, reacts to any developments in the Donbas
peace talks, it’s quite likely these various positions are being floated in
order to pacify both the Russians (who are demanding special status) and the
public (which is largely against special status). Meanwhile, any peace is
likely to be hammered out behind closed doors, with its implementation
occurring in slow, gradual steps with similarly conflicting statements.

Ultimately, despite this official position of the
president, we are confident Zelensky shares Yermak’s strictly pragmatic
approach to politics and his commitment to end the warfare in Donbas by the fall.
And we believe it’s more likely than not that a compromise will be reached,
with heavy concessions from Ukraine.