Arestovych: Kozak, in letter to advisers to Normandy Four leaders, suggests holding direct negotiations between Ukraine, ORDLO
The measures proposed by Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Executive Office Dmitry Kozak on March 19 to resolve the situation in Donbas consisted of organizing direct negotiations between Ukraine and ORDLO, which contradicts the Minsk Process, spokesperson of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Oleksiy Arestovych has said.
"This [in Dmitry Kozak's letter to the political advisers to the Normandy Four leaders] has nothing so sensational. Russia is pursuing the same policy as in 2014. All these 'juggling words', insisting on their own righteousness, and accusations against Ukraine that it does not fulfill something. All this is done for one thing: for Ukraine to enter into direct negotiations with 'quasi-state entities', which, by misunderstanding, are called 'DPR' and 'LPR'. We will not agree to this, which we consistently report," Arestovych said on the air of the Ukraine 24 TV channel on Monday.
He also said that Kozak's words that Ukraine did not provide proposals at the level of political advisers to the Normandy format on "clusters" (steps to get out of the conflict) do not correspond to reality.
"This is a deception. As soon as the cluster track was successful, as soon as there was progress at the level of political advisers to the Normandy format, the Russian Federation, firstly, immediately increased the level of violence in Donbas, and secondly, it began a media campaign against Ukraine, which Ukraine allegedly provokes, wants war and does not fulfill the Minsk Agreements. But we see who really does not want an end to the violence in Donbas. Because right after the meeting of the political advisers to the Normandy format [March 18], Ukraine proposed to hold an extraordinary meeting of the TCG security subgroup the next day. Russia refused," Arestovych said.
As reported, on March 18, a regular online meeting was held at the level of political advisers to the Normandy Four leaders. At it, in particular, the issues of returning to the full ceasefire in Donbas, which was established on July 27, 2020, were discussed. In addition, the parties exchanged new proposals for resolving the situation in eastern Ukraine.
