Donetsk establishes its own state, Ukraine in more turmoil

(Baonghean) - The crisis in Eastern Ukraine has just had a new development, when the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko read the declaration establishing a new country called Malorossya, with the capital city of Donetsk.

The decision was made out of frustration with the Ukrainian government in preventing civil war. However, according to observers, this development is making the situation more complicated and the conflict in the eastern region of Ukraine will be more difficult to resolve.

Alternative state to Ukraine?

According to the statement of the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko, it will be impossible to restore the former Ukrainian state. Representing the regions of the former Ukraine, except Crimea, the Donetsk People's Republic together with 19 other regions declared the creation of a new state - the successor state of Ukraine. The new state will be called Malorossya because the old name Ukraine has lost prestige.

The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, announced the creation of "a new state, the successor to Ukraine" called Malorossiya. Photo: Tass

According to the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Zakharchenko, the Malorossiya State will be a federal state with extensive autonomy, with Donetsk as its capital. The central government will only control strategic areas such as the budget, the army and national security.

Notably, Mr. Zakharchenko also emphasized that the birth of the new state of Malorossiya does not contradict the Minsk Agreements. He also declared that the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) are the only two territories of Ukraine (except Crimea) with legitimate governments.

It should be recalled that the Kiev government, supported by Western countries including the United States, has always declared that it does not recognize the "People's Republics", defining the Lugansk and Donetsk territories as occupied zones and the militias in these areas as terrorists.

Since April 2014, the Ukrainian government has begun a military campaign against these self-proclaimed states. Therefore, it is inevitable that after the recent declaration of the establishment of the state by the Donetsk government, the Ukrainian government has had a very strong reaction.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced on July 18 that he would restore territorial sovereignty over regions in the east of the country, including Donbass and Crimea.

Mixed opinions

Meanwhile, the international community has also had different reactions to the new developments in eastern Ukraine. The German government said on July 18 that it considers the proposal to establish a new state called Malorossiya by the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko "completely unacceptable".

In a statement, the German government stated: The German government condemns this step as completely unacceptable. Mr. Zakharchenko has no legal right to make a statement about this region of Ukraine. Germany believes that the conflict in eastern Ukraine can only be resolved through reconciliation and negotiation.

In a development on the same day, the French Foreign Ministry called on Russia to condemn the statement of Mr. Alexander Zakharchenko, which violates the Minsk agreements and goes against the spirit of the negotiations within the Normandy framework.

In response, the press secretary of the Russian President, Mr. Dmitri Peskov, said that the country considered the statement of the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic as just a "personal initiative", and that Russia is still complying with the Minsk Agreement.

However, before this event, there were also some different views. For example, Russian Deputy Tsekov expressed his agreement with the Donetsk government on the need for Ukraine to move towards the establishment of a Union State. Accordingly, Ukraine is currently in a state of separation in all regions and that this is an inevitable path for this country. Or the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the CIS, Kalashnikov, said that this step could solve Ukraine's problems.

From another perspective, commenting on this incident, the Russian Federation's Special Envoy to the Contact Group on Ukraine, Boris Gryzlov, said that the declaration of the establishment of this state should not be considered as a real policy but only a proposal for further discussion.

Meanwhile, information from the self-proclaimed Lugansk Republic said that Lugansk will not participate in the project to establish the State of the Donetsk region and considers compliance with the new Minsk Agreement to be important.

Kiev "restless"

For the self-proclaimed Donetsk government, this is not the first time that this region has declared its own state. Remember in 2014, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic also declared that he would establish his own state borders and considered government soldiers there as “occupiers”.

Just before that, on May 11, 2014, supporters of federalization in the two provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk, eastern Ukraine, held a referendum on autonomy. However, the demand of the Donetsk region at that time was for greater autonomy for Donetsk, not sovereignty for the province.

It is also worth mentioning that the results of the referendum on May 11 showed that 89% of the people of the Donetsk region supported the independence of the region. As for the latest declaration of the establishment of a new state, it seems that the self-proclaimed Donetsk government has made a bolder decision.

Conflict in eastern Ukraine continues despite ceasefires. Photo: Tass

According to observers, the move to establish a separate state by the Donetsk government is also aimed at bargaining in negotiations on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. However, for Ukraine, this is actually a heavy blow to its policy.

What will the Kiev government choose to do? If it takes tough measures against the Donetsk region, the situation there will certainly become extremely tense, because the majority of the people in this region have agreed on the independence of the region.

If not resolved thoroughly, the Malorossiya State may develop outside the control of the Kiev government. It is not excluded that other regions - where people have deep conflicts with the Kiev government - will be annexed into this new state.

In his statement, the head of Donetsk State said that Malorossiya will be established during a transitional period of about 3 years or more, becoming a federal state with wide autonomy, gradually replacing Ukraine. Mr. Zakharchenko also believes that this is an extremely important issue, requiring the support of the international community and the Ukrainian people.

It is not yet known how the government of Ukrainian President Poroshenko will handle the establishment of a state in the Donetsk region, but one thing is certain: the situation in Eastern Ukraine will become increasingly complicated in the coming days.

Meanwhile, despite Russia’s protests, tensions between Ukraine and the West and Russia will continue to heat up. There will certainly be deep mistrust between the two sides and Russia will continue to be accused by Ukraine and NATO of supporting and inciting the separatist movement and supporting the rebels.

In the context of the Minsk peace agreement not being able to take effect, negotiations are still deadlocked, the number of 10,000 people killed in Eastern Ukraine since the conflict broke out in 2014 will certainly not stop.

Phuong Hoa