Russian planning Transnistria scenario in Donbas, Ukraine official says

The Donetsk and Luhansk regions should have autonomy
when they return to the Ukrainian state, Viktor Medvedchuk, among Russian
President Putin’s closest allies in Ukraine, told the 112 television network on
Nov. 11. This autonomy should involve their own governments and parliaments, he
said. Medvedchuk repeated Kremlin positions, including limiting a U.N.
peacekeeping mission’s mandate to providing security for the OSCE mission, as
well as requiring direct talks between the Ukrainian government and the Donbas
separatist leaders, without which “there won’t be any agreement on returning
these territories and people, who live on these territories.”

The Russian government organized elections in Donbas
this weekend in order to recreate the Transnistria scenario in Ukraine, said on
Nov. 9 Heorhiy Tuka, Ukraine’s deputy minister for temporarily occupied
territories. Transnistria, which is an autonomous territory in Moldova, was
created as the result of authorities willingness to negotiate with
Kremlin-backed separatists, he said, which occurred in 1992. Now pro-Russian
forces in Ukraine are promoting the same model, he said. “We all saw the
result,” he said, referring to Transnistria being a Russian-allied satellite
within the state of Moldova.

Zenon Zawada: It’s no
coincidence that Kremlin allies like Medvedchuk began repeating their calls for
direct talks with the Donbas separatist leaders on the same day elections were
held. We are confident that Ukraine will never engage in these talks for as
long as Poroshenko is president since it’s the consistent position of Ukraine
and the West that these separatists are truly controlled by Moscow.

It’s our position that fulfilling the Minsk Accords
would nonetheless give Moscow large influence over the Donetsk and Luhansk
territories, as well as their ability to influence decision-making in Kyiv.
Putin’s refusal to abide by the Minsk Accords indicates that he is interested
in more: either the return of Ukraine’s full territory under Russian control,
or dissolution of the Ukrainian state.