During Denis Pushilin’s call-in show, they raised the issue of humanitarian corridors between the DPR and Ukraine, which many residents of the Republic are worrying about, DPR Minister of Foreign Affairs Natalya Nikonorova spoke about that and about Ukraine’s stance on this matter.
“We see that Ukraine handles negligently all matters under discussion at the negotiations. I can give you an example. In particular, such an acute issue, which is on the agenda today, is the opening of humanitarian corridors for crossing checkpoints from Ukraine-controlled territory to the DPR and vice versa. We have sent several proposals to arrange for such humanitarian corridors. Unfortunately, we have not received their answer yet. By the way, at the meetings, which are held via videoconferencing, Ukraine under any pretext evades discussion on this topic. Last time, on June 10, they went offline allegedly for technical reasons when discussing this very issue. Unfortunately, we do not see constructive work yet, and at the last meeting the representative of Ukraine doubted that the Complex of Measures was actually a binding document. Thus, he also doubted the binding nature of the UN Security Council Resolution that approved the Complex of Measures. Five years later we hear such theses from the Ukrainian side. We hope that appropriate pressure will be exerted and they change their stance by the next talks,” Natalya Nikonorova said.
For his part, Denis Pushilin commented on this issue.
“We have no right to open the borders with Ukraine fully. We have no right to risk the lives of our citizens, because the situation with the coronavirus infection in Ukraine causes great fear. Since June 11, anti-records have been reported there: from 700 to 800 sick every day, dozens of people are dying. It would be a big mistake for any state to take such steps.
On the other hand, we clearly understand that people have certain humanitarian goals, they need to go to Ukraine or to us. Humanitarian corridors are an absolutely clear mechanism for that. We proposed that through the OSCE, there were attempts to negotiate at the Minsk venue. What was left to do is set the date, coordinate this mechanism, but Ukraine did a set-up and opened a checkpoint unilaterally. We will not forbid anyone to leave the Republic. Given the epidemiological situation in Ukraine, we are ready to allow the entry based on the lists. These people will be self-isolating for two-weeks, and we have accommodation ready for them. That is, the two parties to the conflict should agree on this position,” Denis Pushilin stressed.
Natalya Nikonorova added that the Inter-Agency Headquarters for Combating the Coronavirus Infection forms lists of people who will enter the DPR, guided by humanitarian aspects.