New Ukraine foreign minister seeks Donbas peace within six months

New Ukraine foreign minister seeks Donbas peace within six months
Ukraine's newly appointed Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko wants to revitalise the five year old Donbas peace process / wiki
By bne IntelliNews September 2, 2019

Ukraine's newly appointed Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko is going to secure " a new page in the peace process" over the Donbas crisis within the next six month.

Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada greenlighted the appointment of the nation's career diplomat Prystaiko as the country's Foreign Minister on August 29, which was backed by 310 MPs.

"The modality of returning people to a peaceful life [in Donbas], holding elections, amnesty, removing trade restrictions, restoring control over our borders are our next steps," news agency Interfax quoted him as saying. "Now it's not so important how we will do it: either by attracting peacekeeping missions or by fulfilling Minsk Agreements. Another thing is critically important: we have six months to do this. I am aiming the diplomatic service for this six-month period."

Prystaiko was born in Odesa region in 1970. He graduated from the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in 1994 and from the Ukrainian Foreign Trade Academy in 1998.

In 2007-2009, he served as deputy director general for NATO in the nation's Foreign Ministry, in 2009-2012 - minister-counsellor and deputy chief of the Mission in the Ukrainian embassy to the United States.

In 2012-2014, he worked as Ukrainian ambassador to Canada, and in 2014-2017 - Ukrainian deputy foreign minister, chief of staff, and first deputy foreign minister. He was appointed head of the Ukrainian Mission to NATO in 2017, according to Interfax.

In May 2019, Prystaiko was appointed by Volodymyr Zelenskiy deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Executive Office.

Looming Normandy peace summit

A new summit in the so-called Normandy format (Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France) dedicated to peace efforts in Ukraine will take place in September, French President Emmanuel Macron said on August 26. He did not specify the exact date, but stressed he had discussed these plans with the Russian and Ukrainian president.

Earlier this month, Zelenskiy initiated phone conversations with state leaders of the Normandy peace negotiation format. "It is necessary to meet with the leaders of the Normandy Four as soon as possible," Zelenskiy said. "To look into each other's eyes and to end this war."

Over the past five years Ukraine and the other Normandy format representatives have failed to secure any significant progress during talks on settling the conflict, which erupted in 2014 as pro-Russian separatists in East Ukraine broke away from Kyiv's central control.

Around 11,000 servicemen, rebels and civilians have so far died. In 2018, 279 civilian casualties, including 55 dead and 224 wounded, were observed by the United Nations human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).

'Cautiously optimistic'

Meanwhile, the Kremlin feels cautiously optimistic about Russia-Ukraine relations and deems the dialogue between the two presidents to be important, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on August 23.

"So far, we can say that the two presidents, President Putin and President Zelenskiy, have established dialogue. As we have said before, certain contacts are being maintained in furtherance of the discussions [between Putin and Zelenskiy] and the understanding they have reached," Peskov said.

In June, Putin said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that Moscow could improve relations with the Ukrainian leadership if Zelenskiy starts direct dialogue with Moscow-backed separatists in Donbas. Over the past five years Kyiv has refused to negotiate directly with the Donbas separatists sponsored and backed by the Russian leadership owing to the fact that the occupied areas of the Luhansk and Donbas regions are widely considered to be under direct Kremlin control.

On May 21, Zelenskiy said in his inaugural address that "the first task" of the new leadership should be a ceasefire in Donbas. "I have been often asked: What price are you ready to pay for the ceasefire? It’s a strange question. What price are you ready to pay for the lives of your loved ones? I can assure you that I'm ready to pay any price to stop the deaths of our heroes," Zelenskiy said.

"I'm definitely not afraid to make difficult decisions and I'm ready to lose my fame, my ratings, and if need be - without any hesitation, my position - to bring peace, as long as we do not give up our territories."

 

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