Granting Donbas autonomy will transform enclave into Russian Federation protectorate
Providing autonomy status for areas uncontrolled by Kyiv in eastern Ukraine is unacceptable, because the Russian protectorate will be legitimized, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin has said.
"If we grant autonomy for Donbas, as Russia wants, it will be the way to federalize Ukraine, to weaken and divide the country, something Russia strives to do. It will be the legitimization of the Russian protectorate in Donbas. The Russian strategy is to push this protectorate back into Ukraine as a Trojan horse," Klimkin told Deutsche Welle in an exclusive interview.
According to him, in order to move towards peace in Donbas, it is necessary to stop the shelling, to allow the OSCE monitor the entire territory and part of the border between Ukraine and Russia, as well as to withdraw weapons. Then it would be possible to start a dialogue about conducting free and fair elections in Donbas.
"Can we start preparing for the elections, having such large number of weapons and its constant flow through Ukrainian-Russian border?" the minister said.
Klimkin said Ukraine favors sticking to the Minsk agreements and the "Normandy format" of negotiations.
