Pro-Russia leader in eastern Ukraine warns of failure of truce deal
A senior pro-Russia leader in eastern Ukraine has warned that the recently reached Minsk truce deal with Ukrainian government will fail unless Kiev recognizes the independence of the eastern territories.
In a Saturday interview with state-run BBC, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Aleksandr Zakharchenko insisted that territories captured by the pro-Russia forces must be legally recognized, further reiterating that the ceasefire accord brokered in Minsk in February is not adequately implemented by Kiev.
"Ukraine doesn't want to resolve all the issues," he said. "If you agree to resolve something, then you need to act and move forward, and resolve everything that's included."
"If that doesn't happen, then the Minsk agreement is unfulfilled, and it renders all the meetings in Minsk pointless," Zakharchenko added.
He also claimed that the Western-backed Ukrainian government is preparing for a war over eastern Ukraine, an allegation Kiev denies.
Zakharchenko noted that "Ukraine has stopped paying welfare, pensions, and other payments that are obligatory for a state to pay its citizens," adding,"They don't do it, so they've de facto recognized us."
The UN human rights office in Geneva announced on Friday that at least 6,116 people have been killed and 15,474 wounded since the conflict over eastern Ukraine was triggered last April.
It said the actual number of casualties could be significantly higher and expressed increasing concern that the repeated violation of a shaky ceasefire aimed would further worsen the human rights situation in the volatile region.
The UN office further reported that nearly 400 civilians have been killed since the beginning of 2015 either in indiscriminate bombardment of residential areas or by landmines and unexploded ordnance in areas held by pro-Russia forces as well as those under the control of the government in Kiev.
Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Russians and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence the pro-Moscow forces in mid-April last year.
The warring sides inked a second ceasefire agreement in the Belarusian capital Minsk in February. Since then, both sides have, on numerous occasions, accused each other of breaking the truce.
MFB/NT/AS
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