Statement by Vladislav Deynego, chief negotiator for the Lugansk People’s Republic
February 3: Today I received an official offer from Major-General A. Rozmaznin, team leader of the Ukrainian side of the Joint Center for Monitoring and Coordination, the essence of which was to introduce a “regime of silence” in the cities of the “Debaltsevsky bridgehead” (Debaltseve, Uglegorsk, Svetlodarsk, Mironovsky) for the evacuation of the civilian population. The general calls on us to observe a mutual ceasefire February 3 from 10:00 to 17:00 Kiev time.
This appeal seems unusual, and raises a few questions. The first and main question is, why it is necessary to comply with the “regime of silence” only in the “Debaltsevsky cauldron”? Is it not to withdraw the Ukrainian Armed Forces (APU), the National Guard and volunteer battalions from that area? If the Ukrainian command is suddenly concerned about the fate of civilians in Donbass, the authorities of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Lugansk People’s Republic (LC) cared about their fate from the very beginning of the conflict. In the end, it is the representatives of the DNR and LC that daily evacuate civilian populations from the combat zone, including one of the cities listed by Major-General Rozmaznin. According to the DNR, just today more than 200 women, children and elders were evacuated.
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| Progress of the Debaltsevsky cauldron as of Feb. 3, 2015. |
Kiev’s sudden humanitarianism comes as a surprise. On the one hand, they call for a ceasefire in the area where Ukrainian troops are in the cauldron, and on the other, they continue shelling other cities and towns of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics: Donetsk, Lugansk, Gorlovka, Dokuchaevsk and others, the list of which is increasing every day.
Therefore, we have a counter-proposal for Kiev. In order to preserve the lives of civilians in the Donbass, Poroshenko must cancel the order to attack across the entire demarcation line today and give a public order of ceasefire to the APU, the National Guard and volunteer battalions. Then there is no need to evacuate civilians. On the contrary, it will be possible to rebuild those houses and infrastructure that had been destroyed during the January APU offensive. We did not give the order to attack and even less so for the shelling of civilians.
In addition, I would like to emphasize the fact Major-General Rozmaznin addressed his appeal to me as “authorized representative of Lugansk.” This is strange. When it comes to consultations within the Tripartite Group in Minsk, the ex-President Leonid Kuchma did not consider my colleague Denis Pushilin and I to be legitimate representatives. And yet when it comes to the withdrawal of the APU, the National Guard and volunteer brigades from this area, Major-General Rozmaznin is completely satisfied with our credentials? A strange approach, and very selective. When it is beneficial to Kiev, our credentials are recognized, and when is unprofitable, they are considered insufficient.
We are against such selectivity and double standards. Kiev has to decide whether it wants war or peace. If peace, then let Poroshenko publish the order to ceasefire, then we’ll move to the negotiating table, and civilians of Donbass will restore what was destroyed. But if Kiev wants war, then do not think that we will succumb to the next trick of the Ukrainian command and give the APU, the National Guard and volunteer brigades the chance to leave the territory only to attack us again.
Translated by Greg Butterfield
Red Star News + Translations 