The initiative of Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov on the stage-by-stage de-occupation of Donbas is one of the options for implementing the peace initiatives of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Turchynov has said.
“I would like to say that this is not an alternative plan, as some are trying to present it. On the contrary, this is one of the options for implementing Poroshenko’s peace initiatives,” Turchynov said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine also explained the specifics of this plan. “The essence of the proposal is to conduct de-occupation not in the whole territory at once, but gradually, step by step: we have worked out a separate region or a town, restored the legal and socio-economic field of Ukraine, and move forward,” he said.
At the same time Turchynov noted that any format of the peaceful de-occupation of Donbas, rather than a phased release by armed means, bumps up against Russia’s reluctance to stop aggression, and he does not expect a change in Russian policy in the near future.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said at the 9th National Expert Forum in Kyiv on June 7 that the negotiation process in Minsk on the settlement of the situation in Donbas does not solve the problems of Ukraine and creates a situation of a frozen conflict. “The Minsk process has played its role and at the moment it is dead. The Minsk process in its current form does not solve the problems of Ukraine in any way. This is the situation of a protracted, frozen conflict,” he said, adding that the negotiating position should be based on public discussion, which is supported by the whole society.
Avakov also thinks that the process of de-occupation of Donbas will require the adoption of the law “On Amnesty,” but it cannot apply to those who fought against the Ukrainian military and committed crimes against civilians.
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs added that in Ukrainian society there should be a discussion as to who will be given amnesty.
Avakov said the return of the occupied territory of Donbas will neither be a simple process and nor a military operation. According to him, such an operation will contain several components, in particular, communication and information. He said it would most likely be a police operation without the use of military forces.
Avakov expressed the need for a law on collaborators, which will provide for the manner of holding militants responsible during the de-occupation of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. He said such an initiative should be developed and adopted before the start of the liberation of these territories.
“Development, the adoption of laws on the collaborators and the amnesty is a necessary step in the de-occupation and the reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Moreover, these laws must be adopted before the start of the process of liberation of the occupied territories. It will be essential to conduct an information campaign to explain the laws to the population, both in Ukraine and in the occupied territories,” Avakov said on his Facebook page.
