Russia Already Has Peace Plan for Implementation of Minsk Agreements

The publication of main provisions of the peace plan for the settlement of the situation in Donbas “Key Clusters for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements,” finalised by Ukraine, Germany and France, in the Russian media confirms the Russian side already has the document. Although the Kremlin claims it has not seen a plan, calling it a “myth.”

“A positive point is that the published material confirms my previous statement, which for some reason was questioned by the Russian representatives. I will remind you that I said that the peaceful settlement plan, created on the basis of the German-French project and finalised by the Ukrainian side, was on the table of the Russian delegation,” Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said.

He added that “the fact that Russia has a peace plan gives it an opportunity to help end the war in Donbas and return territories and people to Ukraine if there is a political will.”

At the same time, according to Yermak, the publication of the document in the Russian media, disclosing the details of the negotiation process between the political advisers to leaders of the Normandy Four countries, violates the ethics of internal agreements within the Normandy format.

The day before, the Kommersant Russian newspaper published material revealing the essence of the German-French project “Key Clusters for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements” with proposals from Ukrainian and Russian sides regarding their vision of resolving the situation.

Meanwhile, Commander of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky stated that the Russian Federation used the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as a testing ground for new weapons. Currently, the situation in eastern Ukraine remains tense and tends to worsen.

Bohdan Marusyak