The status of the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk will be high on the agenda, should the ceasefire in Ukraine hold. Kyiv wishes to avoid a frozen conflict like the one in Transnistria, reports GHN based on dw.de
What to do with Donbass? Even though the ceasefire between the government in Kyiv and pro-Russian separatists is quite fragile, the question over the future of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine is bound to arise sooner rather than later.
The agreement, signed on Friday in Minsk, contains no concrete answers to this question. It only obliges Ukraine to execute a "decentralization of power" in the region. The parliament in Kyiv is due to pass a law for the special status of the two territories, but details have not yet been announced.
Kyiv wishes to keep Donbass
The separatists seem to understand this as de facto independence. That was made clear on Monday in an interview with Andrei Purgin, the self-proclaimed vice head of government of the Donetsk People's Republic. Purgin told Russian news agency Interfax that "at the moment, it is not a question of going back to being part of Ukraine."
The Ukrainian government, however, sees things differently. Kyiv's stance on the matter is clear: yes to more autonomy, no to independence. The reasons are obvious. After the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula, Donbass would be another big loss of territory.
With more than 3,000 deaths, according to UN figures, Ukraine has already paid a high price to keep Donbass. A secession of these provinces would make it seem as though the loss of life was all in vain. And Donbass' coal and gas deposits make it an important region for Ukraine's energy supply. The country is also dependent on Donetsk's heavy industry.