"To pull the balance over to our side": why in Kiev they again started talking about the revision of the Minsk agreements

The statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the need to change the Minsk format and add other countries to it is a wake-up call.

This was announced by the press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov.

“This (Zelensky's words. -

RT

) is another alarming signal.

We have repeatedly said that this is a very difficult situation, this is once again at the highest level, probably a demonstration that Ukraine would like to modify the Minsk process, and it is simply impossible to modify it without putting an end to it, ”Peskov emphasized.

• Dmitry Peskov

• Reuters

• © Sputnik / Alexei Nikolsky / Kremlin

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with the Financial Times said about the need to reform or abolish the Minsk agreements.

“There are two options: you can change the Minsk format, correct it;

or you can use some other format, ”Zelensky said.

According to him, it took two years to negotiate the withdrawal of troops from the short section of the contact line, and it will take "a lifetime" to fully implement the Minsk agreements.

The politician recalled that he is participating in the process, the plan of which was drawn up even before the beginning of his presidency.

“I am now involved in a process that was developed before I took office.

In this situation, the Minsk process should be more flexible.

It should serve the purposes of the present, not the past, ”the Ukrainian leader said.

Zelenskiy also called on the West to support the change in the Minsk agreements and advocated the expansion of the Normandy group.

According to experts, the Minsk agreements were the result of a serious compromise between the warring parties, and Kiev's attempts to destroy or rewrite the agreement could lead to disastrous consequences.

“Such attempts presuppose a rejection of the compromise reached, the result of mutual concessions between Kiev and the republics of Donbass.

And the current proposals of Kiev are aimed at scrapping it, the Ukrainian authorities want to pull the balance to their side in order to get out of the conflict not through dialogue, but through their victory with the help of diplomatic fuss, ”Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries, said in a commentary on RT.

A similar point of view is shared by the head of the Department of International Security and Foreign Policy of Russia, RANEPA, Alexander Mikhailenko.

• Vladimir Zelensky

• Reuters

• © Ukrainian Presidential Press Service

“The Minsk agreements have become a balance for the parties, Kiev cannot reformat the document, since it expresses not only its interests.

Such a decision requires the consent of all signatories.

In general, such negotiations and agreements are a very delicate thing.

It is easy to abandon some format, but finding a replacement is always much more difficult, ”the expert emphasized in an interview with RT.

According to Mikhailenko, the Ukrainian leadership is putting forward initiatives to change the Minsk agreements not so much for the sake of resolving the conflict as for the sake of strengthening its own internal political positions.

Formal leads

This is not the only loud statement made by the Ukrainian side recently on the topic of the Donbas settlement.

So, on the eve of the head of the Kiev delegation to the trilateral contact group Leonid Kravchuk reported on a "historical" event during the last meeting of the TCG.

According to the ex-president of Ukraine, the Ukrainian proposals on the adoption of additional control measures over the observance of the silence regime in Donbass were taken as the basis for the discussion, although Russia and representatives of the Donbass republics also put forward their initiatives.

“This is the first time.

And even the head of the TCG, the ambassador from the OSCE said that this is a historic event, "Kravchuk said on the air of the Dom TV channel.

Commenting on Kravchuk's statement, Rodion Miroshnik, a representative of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic in the political subgroup of the contact group on Donbass, noted that last week there was only a meeting of the security group, where once again the coordination mechanism of additional measures to ensure a stable ceasefire was discussed.

• Leonid Kravchuk

• globallookpress.com

• © Volodymyr Tarasov / Keystone Press Agency

“That is, one of the next working documents was considered.

There was no breakthrough and no agreements, "Miroshnik said in a commentary on RT.

Another statement was made by the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak in an interview with Liga.net.

He said that the Steinmeier formula allegedly provides for a change in the timing of the transfer of the border with Russia to the Ukrainian authorities.

Yermak explained this by the fact that the legitimacy of the elections in Donbass will have to be confirmed by the OSCE special mission.

And she will be able to do this only on condition that the elections are held in accordance with the "Copenhagen Principles", one of which stipulates that at the time of the elections, the border should be controlled by the government of the country in which the vote is taking place.

Therefore, allegedly, having given their consent to the implementation of the Steinmeier formula in Ukrainian legislation, the parties a priori agreed on the transfer of the border to Ukraine not after, but before the elections, Andrey Yermak is sure.

As the director of the Ukrainian Institute for Policy Analysis and Management Ruslan Bortnik explained in a commentary to RT, speaking of the Copenhagen Principles, the head of the presidential office meant commitments to hold democratic elections in the OSCE participating States.

“These criteria are the basis for the work of the OSCE monitoring mission.

But I do not know of any examples when they were absolutely absolutely respected.

It should be understood that the status of these criteria is an internal document of the OSCE that regulates the activities of its monitoring missions.

And only the OSCE can interpret its own norms, "the expert said in an interview with RT.

According to Rodion Miroshnik, Yermak's statement is a new attempt to distort the Minsk agreements.

• Soldiers of the Ukrainian army in the area of ​​Donetsk

• © REUTERS / Oleksandr Klymenko

“The essence of the agreements is very simple.

LPR and DPR can return to the legal field of Ukraine only after fulfilling a number of conditions.

And only after this will the process of transferring control over the border begin, which will become the completion of the political settlement.

This is the fundamental principle of the Minsk agreements.

Attempts to find some kind of double meanings are doomed to failure, although in Kiev they are constantly looking for new interpretations, formal clues, which have never been in the agreements, ”Miroshnik said.

This opinion is shared by Vladimir Zharikhin.

According to the expert, the arguments of Zelensky's office are groundless.

“The Steinmeier formula itself does not provide for what they are talking about in Kiev.

In fact, in this way, the Ukrainian leadership rejects not only the Minsk agreements, but also the Steinmeier formula, ”the expert said.

Hope for revenge

Recall that the text of the Minsk Agreements signed by the parties in early 2015 states that the restoration of full control over the state border by the Ukrainian government in the entire conflict zone should begin “on the first day after the local elections and end after a comprehensive political settlement”.

The settlement includes local elections in selected areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions based on Ukrainian law.

The condition for transferring control over the border is also the fulfillment of clause 11 of the agreements - we are talking about the implementation of a constitutional reform in Ukraine on the subject of decentralization "taking into account the peculiarities" of certain regions of Donbass.

In addition, clause 11 of the Minsk agreements provides for the adoption by Ukraine of permanent legislation on the special status of these regions.

• A serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in combat positions in the village of Peski, Donetsk region

• © REUTERS / Oleksandr Klymenko

The Minsk agreements are the only basis for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Donbass.

This was announced earlier by Boris Gryzlov, the plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation at the Minsk talks.

This point of view is also shared in the EU.

At the beginning of April, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that France and Germany consider it necessary to continue negotiations in the Normandy format for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements.

At the same time, Kiev slows down the implementation of the peace plan.

Thus, the Ukrainian authorities are sabotaging the implementation of the political reforms laid down in Minsk.

For the sake of a way out of this situation, the so-called Steinmeier formula was proposed, based on the proposal of the ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FRG.

The idea appeared in October 2015, but the parties managed to agree on its final formulation only by the fall of 2019.

Then Kiev signed the Steinmeier formula and agreed to implement it into Ukrainian legislation.

According to these conditions, Kiev must first ensure the operation of the temporary special status of these regions of Donbass, then local elections must be held there under Ukrainian law.

If the OSCE recognizes the vote, the special status will take effect on a permanent basis.

Experts doubt that Kiev will fulfill its obligations under the Minsk agreements in the foreseeable future.

• President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, President of France Francois Hollande and President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko before the start of the Normandy format talks with the participation of delegations, 2015

• kremlin.ru

“The main role in this situation is played by the political motives of Kiev.

And legal reasoning only serves political purposes.

Now Kiev insists on revising the Minsk agreements, but only on their basis can the conflict be resolved.

No alternatives suitable for the situation were proposed.

So the Minsk Agreements are the most realistic way of settlement, ”Aleksandr Mikhailenko believes.

According to Vladimir Zharikhin, Kiev is promoting the idea of ​​revising the Minsk agreements in the hope of taking revenge in this way for the military defeat in Donbass.

“Any proposals offered by Ukraine are aimed at destroying the Minsk agreements.

It turned out that Kiev cannot act within the framework of a compromise.

Instead, the Ukrainian authorities hope, with the help of the United States, to somehow force the self-proclaimed republics to capitulate.

It is this goal that all Kiev's proposals pursue, ”the expert summed up.