The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin in an interview with RT said that every year Donbass is increasingly moving away from Ukraine, and Kiev is losing its last hopes of restoring its territorial integrity.
According to him, over the past six years of the conflict in Ukraine, about 60 laws have been adopted that contradict the Minsk agreements. “In Kiev, they are trying to follow the path so that Donbass does not harbor any illusions about life in a single political space,” Pushilin said. He added that all attempts by the Ukrainian authorities to return the republic to its structure are doomed to failure due to their unwillingness to conduct direct negotiations with the DPR.
Pushilin noted that at the moment there are no prerequisites for a political settlement in the region, and the truce concluded on July 27 is temporary. “During this period, since July 27, seven servicemen of the Donetsk People’s Republic have died in our country. These are all the results of the lack of political action on the part of Ukraine,” the head of the republic stressed.
Formally, an indefinite truce has been in effect on the territory of Donbass since July 27, agreed within the framework of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) by representatives of Ukraine, Russia and OSCE . This is the 21st attempt to honor the agreement on an indefinite ceasefire in the region, but the parties regularly accuse each other of violating the silence.
In 2014, part of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared independence after the change of power in Ukraine. Kiev tried to return them by force and accuses Russia of occupation. The Kremlin rejects the claims.