Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on Donbas Leonid Kravchuk has said he would submit to the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine his proposal to switch off the SWIFT international settlement system in Russia.
"If Russia continues to block the movement toward peace in Donbas, if it continues to use, from its point of view, the most effective means – force and pressure, instead of talking and looking for ways, Ukraine will have to look for other ways to influence Russia," he told Obozrevatel TV.
Kravchuk reiterated NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov had recently announced the development of a new approach in negotiations with Russia toward the end of the occupation in eastern Ukraine.
Kravchuk says his proposal to disconnect the aggressor state from the SWIFT international payment system is in no way a whim but a "forced measure."
"Russia just needs to take out its troops, formations, and weapons from Donbas, withdraw 'volunteers,' and then Ukraine will communicate with Ukrainians, not aliens," the official said.
At the same time, he believes Russia's statements about its alleged readiness to introduce its "international settlement system" are empty.
Ukraine's Plan for Donbas: Five key points
On November 5, the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG outline five key points of the new action plan for Donbas: the withdrawal of foreign troops, illegal armed groups and mercenaries from the territory of Ukraine in early 2021; the cancellation by the authorities of the Russian Federation of a number of decisions and documents that are direct interference in the life of the occupied parts of Donbas, for example, on the simplified procedure for granting Russian citizenship to residents of those territories; restoring control over the corresponding section of the Russian-Ukrainian border with the help of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission; an increase in the size of the OSCE SMM mission by four times (by 1,500 persons). Only if the first four conditions are met, the fifth point is to prepare and hold local elections in the occupied districts of Donetsk and Luhansk region (with the assistance of the OSCE).
On November 10, members of the political subgroup of the TCG took the Action Plan for Donbas, proposed by the Ukrainian side, as a basis.
On November 24, Russia's representative in the political working subgroup, Aleksey Dmitrievsky, said Moscow would support the plan formally submitted by their proxy forces in Donbas.
On December 1, NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said a special meeting was being scheduled on the situation in Donbas.
