DISINFO: Russia cannot ensure full truce in Donbas because it is not party to conflict
SUMMARY
Russia cannot ensure a full and comprehensive truce in Donbas because it is not a party to the conflict. The truce only concerns the warring sides, which are the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the unrecognised separatist republics. However, Russia uses all its influence to have the agreement fulfilled.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring narrative from pro-Kremlin media, trying to portray Russia as a mediator between Ukraine and the Donbas separatists rather than a warring side. Thus Moscow strives to coerce Kyiv into direct dialogue with the separatists and to legitimise these two unrecognised entities, the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic, in Eastern Ukraine.
In reality, Russia is supporting its proxies with weapons, its active-duty soldiers serve there and its top military commanders visit the war zone to coordinate joint efforts with the separatists. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that Moscow will continue to support these territories. The systematic issuing of Russian passports to citizens in the two entities is now also used as a pretext to claim right to influence and perhaps intervene militarily. Russia is also reported to be using the occupied territories as a testing ground for new weapons. Despite all this Russia officially denies its military presence in Donbas.
However, international officials think otherwise. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is prone to imply that Russia is a party to the Donbas conflict. Asked by a Ukrainian journalist whether Russia is a party to the conflict, OSCE Special Representative Martin Sajdik said:
“Obviously, the OSCE is not a party to the conflict, it’s only a mediator. Then it’s easy to answer a question about the parties to the conflict.”
There is more evidence from independent sources of Russia’s presence in the Donbas war.
Read more disinformation stories denying Russia’s complicity in the downing of the Malaysian Boeing [MH-17] and alleging that NATO troops fight in Donbas.