The head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Leonid Kravchuk, said in an interview with TASS that Kiev would seek to revise the order of points of the Minsk agreements.

According to the first president of Ukraine, it is unrealistic to fulfill the agreements of February 12, 2015 in their current form.

“If we run into such a sequence, which is stipulated by the Minsk agreements, then this actually cannot be done.

I think that Mrs. (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel and everyone who took part in the 2019 summit then admitted the possibility of some clarification of what is happening in Donbass now, ”Kravchuk said.

At the same time, the summit held in December last year in Paris confirmed that there is no alternative to the strict and consistent implementation of the Minsk agreements.

In addition, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a joint press conference, "the importance of establishing a direct dialogue between the parties to the conflict was emphasized."

Nevertheless, Ukrainian officials have repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the thesis that there is no alternative to existing agreements on resolving the situation in Donbass.

Moscow, as before, opposes the revision of the agreements of February 12, 2015.

Joint steps plan

In early November, Kiev presented a new program for resolving the conflict in Donbass, called the "Plan of Joint Steps".

This document violates the sequence of implementation of the political part of the agreements of February 12, 2015.

Thus, the document assumes the transfer of the border with the Russian Federation under the control of Ukraine before the local elections.

At the same time, the text of "Minsk-2" states that the process of transferring the border with Russia to Kiev should start on the first day after voting on the amended constitutional legislation of Ukraine, which enshrines the special status of the Donbass territories not controlled by Kiev.

  • Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and Vladimir Zelensky at a joint news conference following the Normandy format meeting at the Elysee Palace.

    December 2019

  • RIA News

  • © Alexey Nikolsky

The Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly recognized that the issue of organizing local elections and controlling the border is the most difficult.

At the summit in Paris, the President of Ukraine said that the TCG should find a compromise on this problem, but there is still no practical result.

On November 6, during a working trip to Donbass, Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that local elections are not an “end in itself” to resolve the conflict.

Nevertheless, Kiev expects that the vote will still take place in the near future.

According to the "Plan of Joint Steps", local elections are to be held on March 31, 2021, but before that, Kiev, under the pretext of ensuring security, demands to completely disarm the militias and transfer certain sections of the border with the Russian Federation to it.

“We need to start with this.

That is, all armed formations, mercenaries, all weapons must be withdrawn from this territory, illegal armed formations must be disbanded, "Kravchuk said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine on November 5.

Another provision of the Joint Steps Plan, which contradicts Minsk-2, is Kiev's desire to punish the participants in hostilities against the Armed Forces of Ukraine, although the agreement of February 12, 2015 provides for a general amnesty.

Also, the "Plan" envisages the formation of special units for the protection of public order in the territories not now controlled by Kiev, which will receive a special status in the National Police of Ukraine.

“We are still discussing that it will be necessary to create special units for the protection of public order: these will be units of the National Police with a special status, possibly as an element of the

OSCE

SMM (Special Monitoring Mission. -

RT

)

department

.

Citizens of Ukraine who did not participate in hostilities should enter there, ”Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov said earlier in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

Let us remind you that the note to Minsk-2 refers to a different format for ensuring security in the regions of Donbass not controlled by Kiev.

The agreements of February 12, 2015 oblige Ukraine to adopt a law "On a special procedure for local self-government in certain areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions."

This document should include a provision on the creation of "detachments of the people's militia by the decision of local councils in order to maintain public order in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions."

Thus, the people's republics must maintain their autonomy in security matters.

However, as of today, Ukraine has not yet adopted the law "On a special procedure for local self-government."

  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a meeting with the military at the contact line in Donbass

  • © president.gov.ua

Despite a number of significant discrepancies between the "Plan of Joint Steps" and "Minsk-2", Ukrainian diplomacy expects that its initiative will nevertheless find understanding and allow achieving a "breakthrough in the negotiations."

In addition, Kiev hopes to hold the Normandy Four summit by the end of this year.

“We are absolutely sure that this action plan (“ Plan of joint steps. ”-

RT

) absolutely does not prevent this year from holding a Normandy format leaders' summit in Berlin.

So that they can synchronize their watches and discuss what has been done since Paris, what has not and why.

We believe that it is realistic to hold the summit in November-December, ”Reznik said.

"This option is absolutely unacceptable."

According to experts, Kiev is so insistently calling for the summit of the Normandy Four to present its new initiatives there and assess whether the leaders of France and Germany are ready to revise Minsk-2.

In an interview with RT, the deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University, Vladimir Shapovalov, assessed the chances of Kiev to convince Paris and Berlin as "minimal."

Moscow, from his point of view, will also adhere to the lack of alternative to the current text of "Minsk-2".

“Of course, the positions of Germany and France depend on conjunctural moments.

But, based on previous experience, most likely, they will not support Kiev in revising the agreements, since the position of the Ukrainian side simply contradicts common sense.

Russia, in my opinion, will also not agree to change or rearrange the points of the Minsk agreements, ”Shapovalov predicts.

According to him, all the initiatives of the Ukrainian diplomacy are aimed at the actual abolition of the overwhelming majority of the provisions of Minsk-2.

The Kiev leadership proceeds from the assumption that the implementation of the political part of the agreements will turn Donbass into a completely autonomous region from Kiev, where, moreover, Moscow's influence will remain.

“The plans announced by Kiev testify to the desire to take the territory of the DPR and LPR under military control and carry out a sweep there, destroying the established institutions of local government with the help of repression.

This option is absolutely unacceptable: it contradicts Minsk-2 and violates the right of the people of the DPR and LPR to independently determine their future, "Shapovalov stated.

Andrei Suzdaltsev, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the Higher School of Economics, shares this view of the situation.

In a conversation with RT, he emphasized that the consistent implementation of the Minsk Agreements destroys Kiev's desire to eliminate objectionable state officials of the DPR and LPR.

According to the expert, the post-Maidan authorities want to see Donbass as a completely loyal region.

“The main work on the implementation of the Minsk agreements is entrusted to Kiev, which must implement a number of important measures aimed at reducing the aggravation of the conflict.

However, the Ukrainian side insists that it should be given control over the Russian-Ukrainian border in the first place.

This will allow Kiev to organize a clean-up of the disloyal territory of Donbass, "Suzdaltsev says.

From the expert's point of view, it does not matter how Paris and Berlin react to the new initiatives of Ukrainian diplomacy.

According to Suzdaltsev, without Moscow's approval, in principle, it is impossible to discuss the revision of Minsk-2.

“I think the leadership of the Russian Federation is well aware that any changes to the Minsk agreements can directly affect the security of the inhabitants of the people's republics.

The plans of the Ukrainian side should be regarded as some kind of creativity, which has nothing to do with reality, ”summed up Suzdaltsev.