ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine – Ukraine’s National Defense and Security Council said on June 23 that Kremlin-backed gunmen in the country’s embattled east ceased fire as peace talks between a former president, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, separatist leaders and European officials got under way in Donetsk.
Unlawful armed separatist groups in
Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which have been plagued by violence since
mid-April, did not use firearms on Monday, which can be acknowledged as a
ceasefire on their part, according to the National Security and Defense
Council.
“Between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. [on June 23]
no case of weapons use was registered. There were no takeovers of
administrative buildings, military bases and other,” said Volodymyr Chepovy of
the Information Analytical Center at the National Security and Defense Council.
“Thus, by 5 p.m. we can acknowledge that the peace plan of Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko has resulted in the actual ceasefire.”
However, at the same time, Chepovy
warned that armed separatist groups in the east are preparing an attack on
Luhansk airport.
“There are signs that terrorists are
preparing for an assault on Luhansk airport near which militant activity is
seen,” he said at a briefing in Kyiv.
Chepovy said the assault on the airport
is expected from two sides: one armored personnel carrier and about 30
militants have gathered at the stretch of a road between the village of
Rozkishne to the town of Lutuhyne in Luhansk Oblast, and the other group has
been seen near the village of Peremozhne in Lutuhynsky district.
Ukrainian armed forces are ready to
resist in case of an attack, Chepovy added.
Despite the declaration of a cease fire
from separatist armed groups, the so-called defense minister of the
self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, Igor Girkin, also known as Igor
Strelkov, said in a message released by the self-styled republic’s press
service that fighting occurred overnight on June 22-23 and continued until 1
p.m., contradicting Chepovy’s statement.
Strelkov said that his forces fired
rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons at Ukraine’s “anti-terrorism
operation” forces, hitting at least two armored vehicles and two military
trucks.
The fighting occurred in the towns of
Dolyna, Siversk, Kryvaya Luka, Ilychovka and either Sloviansk or Lysychansk,
Strelkov said, adding that the Ukrainian forces had mined fields around
Sloviansk and that there were “victims” as a result of the clashes.
In Donetsk, negotiations in line with
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s peace proposal got underway. The
president declared a seven-day unilateral cease-fire on June 20 in an attempt
to find a solution to the unrest that has engulfed the eastern regions for
months.
He noted, however, that should Ukrainian
forces be fired upon they reserve the right to retaliate.
In the first 72 hours of the cease-fire,
fighting continued to rage in the east, with gun battles occurring in both
Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The government blamed separatist forces for
shattering the cease-fire.
“In response to the peace restoring
initiative, the gunmen and terrorists launched continued armed attacks,
blatantly violating the truce,” read a joint statement by Ukraine’s defense and
foreign ministries on June 22.
Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma
led the talks, which included head of the pro-Russian non-governmental
organization and close Putin acquaintance Viktor Medvedchuk, Russian Ambassador
to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, representative for the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe and chairman-in-office Heidi Tagliavini,
self-proclaimed prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic Oleksandr
Borodai, southeast movement leader Oleh Tsariov and representatives of the self-proclaimed
Luhansk People’s Republic.
The above video shows the peace talks inside
Poroshenko previously said he would not
hold talks with “terrorists.” Sending Kuchma as a mediator provided him with a
way in which to conduct negotiations without the government officially sitting
down at the table with separatist representatives.
Following the talks Borodai said his
side would respect the cease-fire declared by Poroshenko. He also promised that
the insurgents would release observers from the OSCE, whom separatists have
held hostage for weeks.
Kuchma said that Ukraine’s government
and separatist had agreed that the ceasefire is to remain in effect until 10
a.m. on June 27.
Tsariov said the peace negotiations
would be followed by more peace talks.
“We suggested to the Ukrainian
representatives that the next round of negotiations should be held in
Sloviansk,” Tsariov told reporters, according to Interfax.
Putin welcomed the peace plan and
specifically the inclusion of Medvedchuk, according to a statement posted to
his official website.
In
a separate statement, the Kremlin press service said that Putin also discussed
the crisis by phone with U.S. President Barack Obama.
“There
was an in-depth discussion of various aspects of the acute political crisis in
Ukraine and prospects of settlement, including implementation of the peace
plan, proposed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko,” read the statement.
EU
warns of further sanctions should peace plan fall through
Also on June 23, the European Union
Foreign Affairs Council said it was prepared to slap further sanctions on those
it deems responsible for fomenting unrest in eastern Ukraine should the
situation escalate.
“The Council recalls that the [European]
Commission, [European External Action Service] EEAS and the Member States have
been undertaking preparatory work on possible targeted measures, as requested
by the European Council in March, so that further steps can be taken should
events in Eastern Ukraine so require,” read an EU Foreign Affairs Council
statement after a meeting in Luxembourg.
Kyiv Post editor Christopher J. Miller can be reached a [email protected], and on Twitter at @ChristopherJM.
Editor’s Note: This article has been produced with support from www.mymedia.org.ua, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and implemented by a joint venture between NIRAS and BBC Media Action. The content is independent of these organizations and is solely the responsibility of the Kyiv Post.
