Translated by Ollie Richardson & Angelina Siard

01:20:48
15/12/2016

olegtsarov.com

Does the story of the meeting of Nadiya Savchenko with the heads of DPR and LPR and the Ukrainian reaction to this act testify that Savchenko is becoming a real, independent political figure? Or it is the project of external forces, in which the personality of Savchenko herself has no value?

Personality always matters, but is not always decisive. I know this whole situation very deeply from the inside, that’s why I can make not only assumptions. I know the real background of events, but because of some reasons I still can’t tell you everything. I will share the part of truth that will not harm the positive development of the situation around Novorossiya and the Ukrainian domestic political situation.

Savchenko plays the correct game. The political elites that now dominate in Ukraine, came to power, were elected to Parliament at the time of maximum military and revolutionary sentiment. Now the “party of war” in power in Ukraine, while the people and the situation in the country demands peace. Savchenko breaks the mould and shifts the Overton window, turns the situation towards peace. In fact, she shows that it is possible to be a patriot of Ukraine, moreover an obvious patriot – and to want peace. Savchenko fought on the front, was sat in jail. It is difficult to blame her for the fact that she was “bought by Moscow” or by someone else. She is the blood of the blood, the flesh of the flesh of the patriotic forces. However, she speaks not about war, but about negotiations. Objectively she becomes a politician and peacemaker. Of course, this is very dangerous for the current Kiev authorities, but this what Ukraine needs.

Kiev’s reaction to Savchenko’s negotiations with Zakharchenko and Plotnitskiy for some are not as straightforward as it appears. The hysterical reaction of Lyashko and other marginal personages, with shouting about trialling Savchenko for treason, have little effect. The reaction of Tymoshenko and her demand for Savchenko to leave the party of “Fatherland” is more important. How can this be explained?

Yulia Tymosheno is an experienced politician. It would be foolish to assume that what she says and what she thinks are the same thing. I think that, regardless of whether she is excluded or not from the party of Yulia Tymoshenko – anyway, Savchenko is working on the scenario that Tymoshenko is now building.

When there was the first statement from Savchenko that she is not against meeting with the leaders of Donbass, I was called by journalists and told: would you met with Savchenko if she wanted to? I replied that, of course, there is a need to meet. Why? Because only through dialogue between the sides is it possible to come to some kind of consensus. Now she met with Zakharchenko and Plotnitsky, and this is proper. The fact that the meeting took place in Minsk – is also proper. Because if she went to Donbass, it could be misconstrued by many of our activists in Donbass, and certainly it would be wrongly interpreted by those Kiev politicians, who now, as Korchinsky, demand to hang or burn Savchenko by such Ukrainian ura-patriots. That’s why Minsk is an ideal choice, already filled with symbols of diplomacy, a symbolic place where you can negotiate.

Nadiya Savchenko is not a representative of Ukrainian executive power, but the People’s Deputy can participate anywhere, in any international negotiations. In the Ukrainian Parliament they began to say that she had to get permission prior to her working trip abroad, and now she must be deprived of access to top secret documents. Believe me, as the Deputy of four convocations: nobody gets permission for any trips. This is normal practice, when a Deputy goes wherever they see fit.

During many years, I, as a member of the Supreme Council, went as an observer to the election in Transnistria. Yes, I could have gone there, I could have not asked anybody, and I didn’t care who was President of Ukraine at the time, Kuchma or Yushchenko. I had my own civil position. I went not as an official, but, nevertheless, I retained the status of the Deputy of the Supreme Council of Ukraine. And it is with the same status that Savchenko was now present at the negotiations in Minsk. She is a person with a certain status. But it is the people, and not the state who gave her this status.

The position of the residents of Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics changed significantly in regards to Savchenko. When Savchenko was exchanged in Russia, many of my supporters were shocked when she was released from Russia to Ukraine. I then reassured everyone, saying that this is a normal process and is nothing to be concerned about, there will not be the end of the world because of it. Today many of my comrades, those who were ready to rebel and protest in that situation, when Savchenko was released, in contrary, they are excessively fascinated by it.

Nadiya Savchenko does what she has to do. She does not pay attention to her rating. It’s very unusual for a politician. Thanks to her patriotic rating, by using it, she does things that the citizens of the country must do. What is wrong with the fact that the negotiations will be conducted, and that prisoners will be exchanged? What is wrong with the fact that a politician offers to stop the war, replace war with negotiations? The Ukrainian reality is already like the kingdom of crooked mirrors – for some reason the obvious things are not received.

Moscow is doing everything to stop the war in Donbass. And it does it sincerely, consistently, and is very seriously engaged in this process at all levels. And, of course, such a visit of the Deputy Savchenko in Minsk is good, and adds to the moneybox for the termination of the war. That’s why, of course, the statement by the Press Secretary of Russian President Dmitry Peskov – that such contacts are welcome in the Russian Federation – is right. The words of Peskov – that this contact is not contact between two plenipotentiary representatives of Donbass and Ukraine – is also de jure right.

And concerning the prospects of what will happen in the near future in the triangle Russia-Ukraine-Novorossiya. Now I am about to finish a political review with options for development of Ukraine. In order to reduce the number of instances that I will describe, I am now waiting for the end of the affair with Arsen Avakov: will he be dismissed? I will finish this work this week. I closely follow the analytics for Ukraine, and I think that nobody has seen such detailed analysis before. And I will absolutely introduce it to readers. I hope it will be interesting.

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