Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Announces Plans for “De-occupation” of Crimea and Liquidation of Donbass – 05/18-28/2020

RIA Novosti focused its reporting on Kuleba’s remarks about the “de-occupation” of Crimea: “Ukraine’s strategy on this issue is a ‘long game,’ which involves maintaining constant pressure through sanctions and ensuring state institutions are ready to reintegrate Crimea ‘when the moment comes,’ he explained.” The outlet also published the DPR’s reaction to Kyiv’s shift in strategy toward Donbass, as well as a comment from Crimean Head Sergey Aksyonov regarding Kyiv’s new plans.

On the radical “Plan B” for Donbass, the outlet published several news pieces:

• Kuleba’s statement: “Dialogue with the republics of Donbass ‘holds no prospects’ in the framework of conflict resolution in eastern Ukraine.”
• Opinion: “Kyiv’s statements about dismantling the administrations of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics contradict the Minsk agreements and international law. The Ukrainian authorities are clearly unconcerned with the lives of people in these regions and are only interested in regaining territory.”
• Position: “Russian Senator Alexey Pushkov tweeted that Foreign Minister Kuleba’s plan to ‘liquidate’ the Donetsk and Lugansk administrations after taking control of Donbass is just hot air and lacks substance.”

TASS did not cover Kuleba’s radical statements regarding Donbass, reporting only on Ukraine’s de-occupation plans for Crimea. The outlet emphasized that Ukraine had not finalized the format of the document: “Should it remain a document of the Foreign Ministry, focused solely on the international aspect, or will it be something broader approved by the National Security and Defense Council? We’ll see,” Kuleba said.

In a second article, TASS published a statement from the Crimean head: “The ‘de-occupation’ plans for Crimea developed by Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry are nothing but noise and wasted paper,” said Sergey Aksyonov.

Izvestia reported on Kuleba’s new statements about Crimea’s “de-occupation” and recalled earlier proposals for the “informational de-occupation” of Donbass and Crimea: “Verkhovna Rada deputy from the Servant of the People party, Yevhenia Kravchuk, proposed reaching Crimean and Donbass residents through television. She called for ‘informational de-occupation’ by luring viewers to Ukrainian channels using entertainment programming during Russian news broadcasts and propaganda shows.” Later that day, TASS published Aksyonov’s response to Kyiv’s declarations.

On the much-hyped “Plan B”, Izvestia released a brief news item and, a few days later, a detailed analytical piece examining Kuleba’s remarks and their contradictions with the Minsk agreements, ongoing negotiations over Donbass, and rising tensions along the contact line: “The Minsk agreements stipulate that Kyiv will grant special status to the temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions (ORDLO), provide for language autonomy, amnesty, and allow the formation of local police forces. President Zelensky confirmed his commitment to the law by signing the so-called Steinmeier formula in October.”

Vesti.ru did not report on Kuleba’s statements regarding Crimea and Donbass, but did publish an update on how Ukraine disrupted the Donbass Contact Group’s work: “Kyiv’s representatives stalled the work of four subgroups of the Contact Group tasked with resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine during a May 26 meeting.”

RT Russian avoided covering Kuleba’s Crimea remarks but, in a story on the “liquidation” of the DPR and LPR administrations, revealed some details about “Plan B”: “In December 2019, a presidential aide stated that Plan B for resolving the conflict involved building a wall.” The outlet also released an analytical article titled “Accustomed to Life in a War Paradigm: Why Ukrainian Authorities Are Talking About Dismantling DPR and LPR Administrations.”

Interfax did not cover Ukraine’s latest radical plans for Crimea and Donbass.

Donetsk News Agency (DAN) published a comment from DPR envoy Natalia Nikonorova: “Kyiv is doing everything it can to avoid fulfilling the Minsk agreements.”

Major Western outlets — including The Guardian, The Telegraph, The New York Times, Le Figaro, as well as leading Italian, Spanish, and Eastern European publications — did not report on these official statements from Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry concerning Crimea and Donbass.

Major Ukrainian outlets also did not report on these statements from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry about Crimea and Donbass.