Kravchuk: text of 'Easter truce' could not be agreed upon in TCG on April 28 due to lack of understanding of subjects of its implementation
Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on Donbas Leonid Kravchuk said that the text of the statement on the introduction of the "Easter truce" could not be agreed upon following the results of the TCG meeting on April 28 at the level of the delegations' heads, since the sides could not accurately determine subjects of the ceasefire at Easter.
"In general, the sides supported the proposal not only about a ceasefire due to Easter, but also about achieving a full ceasefire on the entire contact line [...] We did not manage to adopt a single text of the statement [on the 'Easter truce'], and therefore that the subjects of this process and the subjects of the execution of the proposals reflected in the text of the statement were not precisely defined," Kravchuk said on the air of the Ukraine 24 television channel.
He said that "in accordance with the Minsk agreements, the participants in the negotiations [respectively, the executors] are Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE, as well as invited representatives of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (ORDLO)."
According to representative of Donetsk Serhiy Harmash, "in order to endorse the 'Easter truce,' the representatives of Russia suggested that Ukraine sign a ceasefire statement between it and the ORDLO."
"There are tempting offers, like the one that sounded yesterday at the TCG: sign a statement on the coordination mechanism [control over the ceasefire] on behalf of Ukraine and ORDLO, and you will have a truce," Harmash said on his Facebook page.
According to Harmash, "Ukraine cannot agree to recognize ORDLO as a side to the conflict instead of Russia, thereby crossing the 'red line' defined by the president and society in Donbas."
"Russia wants to instill in the minds of Ukrainians the narrative that the subjectivization of ORDLO as the side to the conflict is the main factor in achieving peace in Donbas. That is, not money, weapons, and 'vacationers' of Russia are the causes of the war, but 'bureaucratic casuistry,' just an admission of the fact civil war," he said.
