14:35 23.06.2017

Complete ceasefire in Donbas unlikely - expert

2 min read
Complete ceasefire in Donbas unlikely - expert

There is no alternative to the non-working Minsk format (Ukraine, Russia, OSCE) negotiations for the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine, and a complete ceasefire in Donbas can hardly be expected, political expert Yevhen Mahda has said.

"In Kyiv, Moscow, Paris and Berlin they understand that the Minsk format does not work. But we need to find a substitute in order to abolish it. None of the leaders of the Normandy format countries [Germany, France, Ukraine, Russia] can afford to slam the door and leave, except Putin [Russian President Vladimir Putin]. But no one will allow it, as this will be regarded as unwillingness to settle the situation in Donbas," Mahda told Kyiv-based news agency Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.

At the same time, the political expert did not rule out that the United States can offer a new idea in the matter of resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

"I have the impression that the U.S. intends to exhaust all the participants to the process, and then offer some idea. But I would not make this idea absolute, because the U.S. is accustomed to solve the problem at the expense of the weakest, and in this situation, Ukraine is the weakest," he said.

Commenting on the next announcement of the ceasefire regime from June 24, the political expert expressed the opinion that "there will be no complete ceasefire."

"After all, there are tens of thousands of people with weapons [in the occupied territories of the Donbas], thousands of which are only able to fight. Do you think they will return to peaceful labor or return to Russia? Russia is least interested in taking back so many people who can do nothing, but fight. This does not meet any of its interests," he said.

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