Kiev lacks control over battalions in east Ukraine, ceasefire unlikely

Multiple battalions operating in southeastern Ukraine do not follow Kiev's orders and a ceasefire is unlikely to be reached with local independence supporters in the near future, Denis Pushilin, the envoy of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) at the Minsk peace talks, has stressed, Sputnik News reported.

"Kiev does not control a number of units. Currently, 57 regional battalions are known to exist," Pushilin said in an interview with the Russian Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, when asked about the reasons behind the continuing fighting in southeastern Ukraine, which has recently intensified, particularly in the Donetsk area.

According to Pushilin, the broader reasons behind the conflict in Ukraine, which escalated last spring when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters in the southeast, is that the new coup-installed Kiev government is not pursuing an independent policy.

"Kiev is currently in a position where it can neither fight nor establish peace. They have no money for war and no people willing to go to war. And they can't achieve peace, because they are not independent in their decisions," the DPR envoy said, adding that the main decision-making center for Ukraine is "across the ocean."

Earlier, Pushilin said it is not possible that the conflict in southeastern Ukraine would end in the near future, as people, conducting special operations in the region, do not follow Kiev's orders.