Ukraine considers Steinmeier’s formula to be a “painful compromise,” said Foreign Minister Vadim Priestayko. According to him, Kiev intends to implement them in such a way as not to harm sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“This is a painful compromise, and we know every word spoken against it. But at the same time, we hope that we can take this path without going so far as to hinder our sovereignty and territorial integrity more than it already is, ”he said.

At the same time, Priestayko emphasized that it is necessary to be “honest with ourselves and the people” so that Ukraine is not accused of disrupting the agreements.

“If we agree on something, however painful these decisions may be, we must implement them, because this is the path to peace that we can achieve in the future. If it’s an affordable price for the people, we do it, ”he added.

The minister also noted that an alternative to these agreements is a rejection of the peace process. According to him, this will have to reduce the cost of salaries and pensions for the army and mobilization by a third.

“I have already told our deputies that if they take this seriously, then we take a third of the budget out of pensions, salaries, medical insurance, translate this into mobilization and into our army and try to protect ourselves without a peace process. These options are all in front of the Ukrainian people. But the government should choose and offer what is most appropriate, ”Pristayko concluded.

The Foreign Minister of Ukraine is trying to reassure nationalists opposing the Steinmeier formula with such statements, said political analyst Ivan Mezyuho.

“The Ukrainian minister is trying in every possible way to justify himself to the radicals protesting against the participation of Ukraine in the Steinmeier formula. In fact, Priestayko is looking for arguments for the implementation of the agreements within the framework of Steinmeier’s formula. The minister is trying to scare Ukrainian society with the lack of an alternative to the Steinmeier formula, ”he told RT.

“Such statements are designed to reassure Ukrainian society, excited by protests from radicals and Ukrainian nationalists,” the political scientist emphasized.

“The facilitated algorithm for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”

Recall that Ukraine agreed to the Steinmeier formula during a meeting of contact groups in Minsk on October 1. As soon as this became known, spontaneous protests of nationalists began in Kiev and other cities, demanding to abandon these agreements, which they called "surrender."

According to the Steinmeier formula, the Ukrainian side and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics should withdraw forces from the settlements of Zolotoe and Petrovsky.

After that, local elections according to Ukrainian law should be held in the DPR and LPR. On the same day, the law on the special status of certain areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions will temporarily enter. If the OSCE recognizes the elections as fair and legitimate, the law will continue to operate on an ongoing basis.

These agreements really require Ukraine to compromise, said political analyst and economist Alexander Dudchak.

“Therefore, it is not clear what Ukraine is unhappy with, they have met it, because Steinmeier’s formula is just a proposal for Kiev, a simplified algorithm for fulfilling the Minsk agreements and ending the war,” he stated in a conversation with RT.

“We need a manifestation of political will”

According to the agreements reached at the beginning of the month, the separation of forces was to take place on October 7th. However, on the indicated day, Priestayko announced the disruption of the process of withdrawal of troops - allegedly several days earlier, shelling took place in this region, and for breeding, seven days without violations were necessary.

It is noteworthy that on the morning of October 7, nationalists from the Azov volunteer Ukrainian regiment said they had taken up positions in Zolotoy and refused to leave them. Moreover, they opposed both Steinmeier’s formula and all Minsk agreements as a whole.

No breeding took place in the next few days, although the DPR and LPR expressed their readiness to withdraw troops. According to Priestayko, Kiev expects to implement this item before November.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the Ukrainian leader, Vladimir Zelensky, was unable to ensure a separation of forces.

“We agreed on a divorce of forces, but the incumbent president can’t provide a divorce of military units and equipment - he can’t. Nationalist military units arrived there and publicly declared: if the army leaves these positions, we will stand there. The army is not leaving, ”the head of state said.

According to Putin, to overcome this situation, "the manifestation of political will is needed."

Dudchak believes that the implementation of the Minsk agreements will take a long time, as it also implies changes to the Constitution. In addition, according to the agreements, Kiev must conduct a dialogue with the self-proclaimed republics, which does not happen, the expert recalled.

“This is a matter of a very distant future, many events must go through: pass a law, make amendments to the Constitution - all this is in the power of the current government. Kiev should sit at the negotiating table with Donetsk and Lugansk, but there’s no question about it at all, ”Dudchak concluded.