Special representative of the U.S. State Department for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker has said that he is ready to visit certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (ORDLO), as soon as peace and security are restored in these regions.
If we achieve security and peace for all people in the east of Ukraine: Russian-speaking and Ukrainian-speaking ones and for all others, and we will have the implementation of the Minsk agreements, the sovereignty of Ukraine will be restored, I would like to visit both Luhansk and Donetsk in order to see that these territories are being restored, Volker said at a briefing in Washington on Friday, according to the website of the U.S. State Department.
He said that at the moment all decisions in the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas are being made by Russia, that’s why Volker intends to concentrate efforts on interaction with the Russian side.
As I said, the decision-maker (in ORDLO) is Russia, and I think that I need to direct the U.S. efforts to this – directly interact with the Russian Federation, the diplomat said.
At the same time, Volker said that there is no progress in the issue of granting defense equipment to Ukraine. According to him, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are in good shape.
Over the past three years, Ukraine has been confronted with a conflict in its own territory. It has produced many weapons and has done a great job of restoring its military forces after 2014, when they were defeated. They have been well rebuilt. They are in good shape now, he said.
