EU: Russia Should Be a Party to Donbas Conflict

Russia is not an intermediator, but a party to the Donbas conflict. So, it has “to participate in the solution” if it wants the European Union to lift the sanctions imposed after the illegal annexation of Crimea and before the war in eastern Ukraine.

The European External Action Service General Secretary, Political Director Enrique Mora, stated this, commenting on Russian President’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s words that Russia could not guarantee the ceasefire in Donbas because it is not a party to the conflict.

“For us, Russia’s role is clear. It is not an intermediator in this conflict, but its party. It is our position. It remains consistent until we see clear progress in this case,” the EU representative stated.

He also noted that, despite the silence regime violation, no fatalities were registered in Donbas so far. Respectively, the agreements “work more or less.”

At the same time, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov promised a quick response if there are human losses among the Ukrainian militaries.

“If the enemy crosses certain limits, if there are losses on our side, the response will be prompt. And believe me, it will be under our legislation and our Constitution. No one will wait until our servicemen got killed,” the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council assured.

Bohdan Marusyak