Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, on the Freedom of Speech talk show on ICTV said that representatives of the self-proclaimed LPR and DPR “do not make any decisions” in the negotiation processes to resolve the situation in Donbass, and negotiations should conduct directly with Russia.

At the same time, he noted that the issue with Donbass cannot be resolved by military means, therefore Ukraine is constantly negotiating.

“All the negotiations that are going on today are associated with a great desire to end this war.

But talking to people who don't make any decisions is just a waste of time.

The only institution with which we have to speak is Russia.

Other people are mercenaries, collaborators, ”Danilov said.

This is not the only recent statement by Ukrainian officials in which they seek to present Russia as a party to the conflict in the east of the country.

So, shortly before Danilov's statement, the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the trilateral contact group on Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, said that Russia should be put under pressure, because only sanctions from Western countries and pressure from NATO can make it “leave Ukraine”.

“Only pressure.

Sanctions.

New sanctions.

Today's sanctions are partial sanctions against individuals.

These are not sanctions against the state.

When the sanctions are applied, and I have already mentioned one of them - this is the disconnection of Russia from the international settlement system, the payment system, these will be sanctions against the whole of Russia, "Kravchuk said in an interview with the Ukrainian news portal Liga.net.

According to him, Ukraine allegedly fulfilled all the proposals worked out at the last summit of the Normandy Four, which was held in Paris in December last year.

“But there were no reciprocal steps from Russia.

On the contrary, Moscow has done everything to block this process.

Guided by political intentions, proposing political demands instead of concrete steps, the Russians actually blocked the proposals developed and submitted by Ukraine, "Kravchuk said.

At the same time, the representative of Kiev in the contact group said that "if Russia does not change its behavior, Ukraine will find other forms of influence, pressure on the aggressor."

Inconvenient agreements

Let us remind you that at the summit held in December last year in Paris, there was 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."

However, since the summit, Ukraine, for its part, has not taken any steps to establish constructive communication with the LPR and DPR, while constantly trying, under various pretexts, to abandon the progressive implementation of the Minsk agreements.

  • Paris Summit, December 2019

  • RIA News

  • © Alexey Nikolsky

So, on November 11, following a regular meeting of the contact group, the plenipotentiary representative of Russia Boris Gryzlov said that the version of the roadmap for the settlement in Donbass presented by the Ukrainian side is "a project aimed at revising the Minsk Agreements", since the proposals of the Ukrainian side completely contradict the Minsk agreements and Norman promises of Ukraine.

According to the Russian plenipotentiary, the so-called road map of Kiev indicates that the Ukrainian authorities do not intend to enter into dialogue with the residents of the region.

“It clearly follows from the Ukrainian project that Kiev does not want to conduct any dialogue with residents of Donbass, Kiev does not recognize or guarantee any rights of residents of Donbass.

We have to remind once again that it is in this attitude of the Kiev authorities to the people that the main reason for the conflict in Donbass lies, ”Boris Gryzlov noted.

He stressed that the proposed Ukrainian option at this stage can be viewed as a step towards the complete rejection of the Minsk agreements.

"The presented draft plan is another imitation of the negotiation process with the only clearly expressed goal - the convocation of the next Normandy format summit," said the Russian envoy to the contact group.

Welcome Summit

It is worth noting that the administration of Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly announced the imminent holding of a new meeting of the Normandy Four since the summit in Paris last December.

The last time the President of Ukraine made another announcement was in September, while Zelensky said that "all the leaders confirm their readiness to meet." 

  • Paris Summit, December 2019

  • RIA News

  • © Alexey Nikolsky

However, no meeting took place.

Moscow has repeatedly noted that due to Kiev's refusal to follow the agreements that were reached in Paris, there are no prerequisites for a new meeting.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova on December 9 - the day of the anniversary of the last summit of the quartet - made an extensive commentary in which she noted the lack of progress in the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Donbass.

According to her, a year later, out of seven Parisian decisions, only two were partially implemented.

“There is no progress on the rest of the Paris decisions.

Kiev continues to replace practical work with imitation of stormy activity and ostentatious constructiveness, ”the Russian diplomat emphasized.

In her commentary, Zakharova stressed that Kiev has not taken any steps to agree with Donbass on all aspects of the political settlement, in particular - the inclusion of the "Steinmeier formula" in the law on the special status of Donbass, recalling that this law will expire on December 31 2020 year.

“Under various pretexts, the representatives of Ukraine shy away from presenting even a general description of the future status of Donbass.

And even if Kiev formally renews the current law again, it will again be done without the mentioned formula and other agreed aspects of the special status, as provided for by the Minsk agreements and the decisions of the Paris summit, ”Maria Zakharova noted.

Statements of Ukrainian officials about the state of affairs in the process of resolving the conflict in Donbass are untrue, political analyst and economist Alexander Dudchak said in a commentary on RT.

“The Ukrainian authorities are now trying to distort the essence of the Minsk agreements, to shift responsibility for the lack of progress in resolving the conflict in Donbass to Moscow, because they do not want to fulfill their earlier obligations.

It makes no sense to hold new negotiations in the Normandy format, since there is no reason for this - the Kiev authorities did not fulfill the obligations that they assumed at the last meeting, ”the political scientist explained.

According to Alexander Dudchak, instead of working on the Minsk agreements, Kiev invented a platform based on the issue of Crimea's ownership, to which it is trying to tie the problem of Donbass to distract the attention of the Normandy format participants and create a new reason for anti-Russian sanctions.

“This is an initiative of the West, primarily the United States, which uses the current Kiev administration as an instrument in its geopolitical strategy, a screen for behind-the-scenes actions,” the expert emphasized.

According to the deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Zharikhin, Kiev wants to change the status of Russia, which is not a subject of the Minsk agreements, but an intermediary and guarantor of their implementation.

“This is due to the fact that more and more questions arise about the fact that Ukraine is verbally declaring its readiness to resolve the conflict, but in reality it is doing everything not to fulfill the Minsk agreements,” the political scientist concluded.