Kravchuk Tells Russian Media About Need to Revise Minsk Agreements

Leonid Kravchuk, the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on the peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas and the first president of Ukraine, said in a commentary to the TASS Russian news agency that the provisions of the Minsk agreements could not be implemented by Ukraine in the order in which they had existed since 2015, so it was necessary to revise their sequence. If Kyiv’s opinion is ignored in the Minsk process, he personally will insist on finding a new international platform for negotiations, Kravchuk added.

“We offer concrete steps, and if the other side gives us the runaround, looking for preconditions to stop these steps, then we need to close the Minsk process and look for other forms of influence. I declare that I will make every effort to convince of the need to look for new formats in the international community, and we will look for them as peace is the main thing for us,” the politician noted.

Kravchuk stressed that he spoke about such a possible initiative on his own behalf, not on behalf of the President of Ukraine. According to him, a compromise is possible taking into account Kyiv’s key position on the priority restoration of control over the border and withdrawal of illegal armed formations from Donbas, after which the Verkhovna Rada will adopt a law on the peculiarities of elections in Donbas.

“We will try to hear what they want, but if they do not change anything but demand the mechanical implementation of what was adopted six years ago, then there is nothing more to talk about.”

According to Kravchuk, Ukraine’s control over a section of the border with Russia in Donbas should be restored before Ukraine moves to the implementation of the political part of the agreements.

He explained that much had changed in the territory of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions over the past six years and the agreements reached in 2015 had become outdated, which, according to Kravchuk, was recognised by other participants in the negotiations.

Natalia Tolub