LPR Leader Says Ukraine's Rapprochement With NATO Will Not Settle Conflict In Donbas

LUHANSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th May, 2021) Rapprochement of Ukraine with NATO will not settle the ongoing conflict in Donbas, the leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), Leonid Pasechnik, said in an interview with Sputnik.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said earlier this week that NATO's June summit would discuss a road map for Ukraine's accession to the alliance.

"As for settling the conflict in Donbas through Ukraine's accession to NATO ... I say again, the more there are participants in the conflict, the more the conflict is aggravated, strained, and escalates. Therefore, the problem in Donbas will not be resolved by the fact that Ukraine will join NATO," Pasechnik said.

The armed confrontation in Donbas broke out in 2014 when Kiev launched an offensive against the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk after they proclaimed independence in response to what they considered a coup in the Ukrainian capital that toppled the old government in February of that year.

The region has been witnessing an escalation over the past weeks. Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that joining NATO was the only way for the country to put an end to the conflict. In response, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Ukraine's accession to the alliance would only exacerbate the situation.