Putin Insists Kyiv Talk with Leaders of Donbas Republics as Minsk Requires

Feb. 18, 2022 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin said today after talks in Moscow with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow, that Kyiv needs to sit down with the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics and the sooner it happens, the better, as required in the Minsk agreements. “The Belarusian President and I have ascertained that the key to restoring civil peace in Ukraine and to relieving tensions around that country is the implementation of the Minsk agreements. All Kyiv has to do is sit down at the negotiating table with representatives of Donbas and agree on political, military, economic and humanitarian measures to end this conflict,” he said, reported the Kremlin website. “Regrettably, right now we are watching, on the contrary, an escalation in Donbas,” the Russian President said.

In Putin’s view, all efforts and contacts between political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy Four group as well as negotiations with foreign counterparts do not help. “Kyiv does not implement the Minsk accords. In particular, it adamantly rejects direct dialogue with Donetsk and Luhansk, thus sabotaging the implementation of the agreements on amending the constitution, on the special status of Donbas, on local elections and an amnesty—on all the key issues of the Minsk agreements,” he stressed.