Ukraine's New President Continues War in Donbass

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Inaugurated as president on May 20, Vladimir Zelensky said the following in his inaugural address:

"(O)ur first task is ceasefire in the Donbass…I'm ready to pay any price to stop the deaths…(W)e are ready for dialogue…" He lied saying "we didn't start this war, (adding) it's up to us to finish it." He falsely called Russia an "aggressor state."

At the same time, he called Donbass and Crimea "our Ukrainian land," refusing to "give up our territories…Our…challenge is returning" them, he stressed, a prescription for more war, not ending it.

It's raged intermittently since spring 2014, in its fifth year showing no signs of ending. Since taking office, Trump continued supporting war Obama backed and encouraged.

The US and NATO countries supply Ukrainian forces with heavy and other weapons, training them in use them.

Washington and Kiev willfully undermined Minsk I and II conflict resolution agreements, wanting war, not peace, near Russia's border, falsely blaming Moscow for the US orchestrated war, following its coup d'etat — replacing democracy in Ukraine with Nazi-infested fascist tyranny.

Intermittent war could become full-scale any time, depending on what Trump regime hardliners have in mind. In his early days in office, Zelensky resembles his predecessor regarding Donbass and Russia.

On his inaugural day, the Security Council rejected a Russian request to discuss the situation in Donbass by a six-to-five vote with four abstentions — the US joined by Britain, France, Germany Belgium and Poland voting against the measure.

Russian UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia said the following during the session:

The "internal Ukrainian conflict (was) created by the" Poroshenko regime. (N)o Russian-Ukrainian conflict" exists.

Actions by Kiev continue to "violate the letter and spirit of the Minsk Agreements, that the Security Council endorsed and supported by Resolution 2202 dated February 2015…"

"(D)aily fire at the peaceful population of Donbass by the Ukrainian army" prevents conflict resolution.

"(T)he Security Council should send a clear signal to the new leadership in Ukraine saying that they need to move towards unity and solidarity of all Ukrainians rather than towards dividing them."

The Security Council's primary mission is "the maintenance of international peace and security," according to UN Charter principles.

Obstructionism by the US, its imperial partners, and nations pressured to go along with its agenda prevent the existence of world peace and stability.

On Tuesday, Donetsk People's Republic head Denis Pushilin slammed Zelensky's actions with regard to Donbass, saying:

"As we see, his actions…differ from what he said during his inauguration. Now we see that something else needs to be done in order to really start talking about ceasefire and ending the military operation," adding:

His "steps…are very similar to manipulations carried out by" his predecessor. 

According to OSCE monitors in Donbass, there's been "an increase in the number of ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine as compared to the relatively low levels of violence observed over and immediately after Orthodox Easter weeks earlier.

"Shelling and small-arms fire continued to impact civilian infrastructure." The situation escalated into a "hot phase" — despite Zelensky's conflict resolution pledge, ceasefire not worth the paper it's written on, replicating Minsk violations by Ukrainian forces.

During the two-week period ahead of Zelensky's inauguration, OSCE monitors recorded about 7,000 ceasefire violations each week.

Mortar shelling by Ukrainian forces continues, including against residential areas, no end of conflict in prospect.

In office less than two weeks, Zelensky resembles Trump so far — pledging peace while waging war.

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