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Kiev can stick to Transnistria scenario in Minsk talks — expert

According to the analyst, such a turn is unfavorable in settling the Donbass crisis

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MOSCOW, November 23. /TASS/. Kiev’s position in the Minsk negotiations aiming to achieve settlement in Donbass possibly indicates that Ukraine seeks to implement the Transnistria scenario of freezing the conflict, political expert Denis Denisov told an online roundtable discussion organized by TASS Monday.

"Imitation of the negotiating process in the [Trilateral] Contact Group will lead to the necessity to review the philosophy of this process and, if needed, to act the way the parties to the Dniester River conflict did 14 years ago. The political aspect was fully taken out of the agenda there, while the ‘political basket’ has not been discussed at all since 2006," he noted.

According to Denisov, this scenario is unfavorable in settling the Donbass crisis. "I think it would not be right if it was all frozen, but things are heading that way. The very spirit of these negotiations on the political track, I think, pushes towards it," the expert underscored.

In early October, representatives of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) submitted a draft roadmap to the Trilateral Contact Group aiming to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The roadmap represents a step-by-step plan of comprehensive peaceful settlement of the Donbass conflict based on the Minsk Agreements.

Later, on November 20, the DPR Foreign Ministry published the "plan of joint steps" drafted by Kiev in response to the proposals of the self-proclaimed republics. In comments to the document, DPR envoys underlined that it vastly contradicts the Minsk Agreements, concluding that Ukraine doesn’t demonstrate a true intention to achieve peace.

Earlier, Donbass envoys pointed out at the Trilateral Contact Group meeting that Kiev had completely distorted the essence of the republics’ initiative to unblock the Minsk process.

Russia’s permanent envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group Boris Gryzlov had a similar opinion of the Ukrainian document. According to him, Kiev’s plan shows that Ukraine is not planning to engage in dialogue with Donbass residents and is not going to stop but only to "expand military actions" in the region. Gryzlov emphasized that Kiev’s roadmap can only be regarded as a step to fully reject the Minsk Agreements.

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