Protesters in East Ukraine, Kiev Will Not Honor Geneva Agreement

The US, European Union, Ukraine, and Russia agreed on a plan to de-escalate the violence in east Ukraine, but the pro-Russian forces are not listening. Occupiers of government buildings refuse to leave.

In the agreement, Ukraine said the occupiers must leave the buildings and will grant them amnesty unless accused of capital offenses. Denis Pushilin, self-declared leader of Donetsk People’s Republic, said the forces do not recognize the government in Kyiv and should vacate those buildings too.

“This is a reasonable agreement but everyone should vacate the buildings and that includes [Arseniy] Yatsenyuk and [Oleksandr] Turchynov,” he said referring to the acting Ukrainian prime minister and president. He reiterated the call for a referendum that he said will allow “self-determination of the people.”

The leaders of Donetsk Republic: we won’t leave for as long as Turchinov and Yatsenyuk occupy offices in Kiev. pic.twitter.com/6n3FBlrG3S

— Anna Nemtsova (@annanemtsova) April 18, 2014

Donetsk Republic say they’re prepared to leave buildings under Geneva deal if Kiev government leaves. “They seized those buildings too”

— max seddon (@maxseddon) April 18, 2014

Donetsk Republic: “Thanks to Ms. Nuland and the EU for waking up the Russian bear. The Russian bear isn’t a scary ‘ooooh’ thing, it’s us”

— max seddon (@maxseddon) April 18, 2014

#donetsk republic presser: “we will not vacate the building. We are getting calls from towns and villages who are joining the republic.”

— Dina Newman (@Dinanewman) April 18, 2014

#Donetsk republic presser: “thinking about a confederation with #Kharkiv and Lugansk regions” in east #ukraine

— Dina Newman (@Dinanewman) April 18, 2014

#Donetsk republic presser: “We do not trust Kiev. Remember 21 Feb? An agreement was signed with #Yanukovich but not honored”

— Dina Newman (@Dinanewman) April 18, 2014

There is definitely no agreement among leaders of activists in Donetsk building on what question should be on referendum. Kind of important.

— Paul Sonne (@PaulSonne) April 18, 2014

Sloviansk’s acting mayor Vyacheslav Ponomaryov echoed Pushilin’s views.

Self-proclaimed mayor of slavyansk tells us he doesn’t answer to politicians in Geneva and they won’t leave til referendum on independence.

— Katie Stallard (@skystallard) April 18, 2014

Moscow has made it known they do not recognize the new government as well. The West pushed Moscow to hold diplomatic talks with Kyiv, but on more than one occasion Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said no talks will happen until a legitimate leader emerges.

This problem is not limited to the east. Protesters at Maidan in Independence Square in Kyiv will not leave until after the May 25 presidential elections.

“For us, for Ukraine, for the people on Maidan, it means nothing, it is piece of paper. It is an agreement that was signed behind our backs,” engineer Valery Levchunets, 46, told AFP on the square.