The international independent civil society platform CivilMPlus, whose mission is to work together to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, believes diplomacy and negotiation is the only possible path during the current conflict escalation in eastern Europe. Saving people’s lives, guaranteeing safety and peace should be an absolute priority for all sides.  

Potential escalation and continuation of the armed conflict that has been going on for the last 8 years would lead to victims and destruction that could be and must be avoided. The conflict is contrary to the interests of the societies of both the countries involved and of the rest of Europe.

Amid the continuing escalation of the situation by the Russian leadership and the increasing military presence of Russian troops near Ukraine’s borders, we urge the leadership of the Russian Federation:

• To immediately withdraw its troops to their permanent locations, reduce the level of tension on the Ukrainian border, pursue negotiations and a diplomatic solution to the situation, and respect international law.
• To urgently resume work in the Trilateral Contact Group to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine and cooperate constructively in the negotiation process on the implementation of the Minsk agreements, renouncing the language of ultimatums and clearly aiming to accelerate the return of territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian Government in Donetsk and Luhansk regions to the control of the Ukrainian authorities.
• To stop attempts to sever the temporarily uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts’ ties with the rest of Ukraine and to cease their purposeful integration into the political, economic and military systems of the Russian Federation. In particular, to stop the issuance of Russian passports, the participation of companies from the temporarily uncontrolled territories in tenders for Russian state services with the status of internal participants, the enrolment  of residents of these territories in military service in the Russian army, the granting of Russian social welfare payments, and the admission of residents of the region to the ‘United Russia’ party.

Platform members call on the Russian leadership and Russian-controlled forces in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to:

• Unblock the operation of entry and exit checkpoints on the demarcation line.
• Release illegally detained persons.
• Ensure free access for representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to all facilities in non-government controlled territory.
• To provide representatives of human rights organisations, especially the International Committee of the Red Cross, with free access to places of detention in the NGCAs.
• Implement other commitments undertaken within the framework of the Minsk agreements and the TCG.

We support the efforts made by the German and French governments to resume talks in the Normandy format with the leadership of Ukraine and Russia.

CivilMPlus calls on all sides of the Normandy talks to demonstrate maximum commitment to accelerate peace and find ways to stop the ongoing aggression in eastern Ukraine as soon as possible. We also call on political leaders involved in restoring peace to engage in ongoing consultations with international civil society, which has the most up-to-date information on security, humanitarian and other relevant issues in a region that suffers daily from conflict.

Platform members commend the active position of many European Union countries in supporting Ukraine. The war that is already taking place in Ukraine has a direct impact on the whole of Europe, and an exacerbation of the conflict will have even more negative consequences. This includes countries that are not directly involved in the conflict, but which would suffer from security risks and financial losses.

In order to avoid a new armed conflict, it is important for all democratic countries to speak jointly with one voice about the costs for Russia in case of a new breach of international norms. Economic sanctions can raise that price considerably. Economic cooperation presupposes trust on all sides, and a partner that foments war cannot have it. We believe that no preferences or any exemptions from the generally accepted certification procedure as required by the EU Third Energy Package and German law should be granted to the operator of Nord Stream 2. In case the situation escalates further and Russia foments war, the project should be abandoned altogether.

CivilMPlus believes that EU member states, the US, the UK, Canada and others need to continue to support Ukraine systematically in promoting internal stability and democratic reforms and developing its economy and trade relations, both in the current situation of an external threat and in the long term.

We urge the leadership of Ukraine to send a clear message to residents of the NGCAs that they remain citizens of Ukraine and part of a unified Ukrainian society. Ensuring that residents of the NGCAs have access to government services remotely, as well as the implementation of dialogue projects with their participation, can be such a signal. An important element of Ukraine’s policy on the conflict must remain the detailed design and implementation of a transitional justice concept that will contribute to a stable peace in the east of the country.

—

The text of the statement does not necessarily reflect the position of all CivilMPlus member organisations.

For additional information or media inquiries, please contact Artem Danylchenko, Communications Coordinator – [email protected]

The independent international civil society platform CivilMPlus was established in 2017. It includes more than 20 organisations and experts from Ukraine, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Russia and France. Within CivilM+, they contribute to the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Donbas: informing the governments and the public of their countries about the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, implementing projects in the fields of peacekeeping, transitional justice, dialogue and human rights.

CivilMPlus in social media:

Facebook

Twitter