On December 10, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky did not rule out holding an all-Ukrainian referendum on Donbass and direct negotiations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“I do not rule out a referendum on the Donbass in general. This is not a question of status. We can have this in life, it can be about Donbass, Crimea, maybe about ending the war in general, “Zelensky said in an interview with the 1 + 1 TV channel.
In addition, the Ukrainian leader did not rule out holding a separate format and direct negotiations with the President of the Russian Federation.
“I see support for this direction from our European partners and the United States,” the politician said.
In turn, the press service of the office of the President of Ukraine reported that Zelensky and US leader Joe Biden coordinated their positions on resolving the situation in Donbass. During the telephone talks, the heads of the White House and Ukraine also discussed possible formats for resolving the conflict in the region and touched upon the course of internal reforms in Ukraine.
On December 5, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, noted that the prospect of a resumption of full-scale hostilities from Kiev is real. According to him, it is still difficult to predict the further development of events on the line of contact.
Later, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, indicated that Kiev was transferring heavy artillery to the east of Ukraine to the line of contact in Donbass. According to her, we are talking, in particular, about large-caliber artillery and armored vehicles.