Former President of Ukraine, head of the Kiev delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group on resolving the situation in Donbass Leonid Kravchuk supported the idea of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to amend the Minsk agreements and expand the “Normandy format” at the expense of the United States, Great Britain and Canada. He announced this in an interview with the National News Service.
“I believe that the search for more effective solutions and structures is a normal state, because the war is going on in Ukraine. The situation is emergency, “Kravchuk said, adding that the number of participants can only be increased by a unanimous decision, including by Russia.
In his opinion, Russia “takes a strange position of an observer and mediator.”
“In such conditions, it is difficult to make a decision and Zelensky is personally looking for what path can be found so that decisions are effective and implemented,” the head of the Ukrainian delegation said.
He also indicated that consensus is needed to preserve the Normandy format. “If Russia opposes, it will be impossible to make such a decision,” he explained.
The day before, the Financial Times published an interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he pointed out the need to change the “Minsk format” or cancel it, and also called on the United States, Great Britain and Canada to take a more active part in the diplomatic process on this issue.
As Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, commented on this proposal, there is no expediency of the US presence in the “Minsk format”.
He recalled that the situation in Donbass is an intra-Ukrainian conflict, and Germany and France are part of the Minsk format, since the negotiations in 2014 were held with their participation.
The United States, in turn, supported the Minsk agreements as the basis for resolving the situation in eastern Ukraine.
The press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that Zelensky’s statement is “another wake-up call.”
The press service of the “Opposition Platform – For Life” faction reported that the President of Ukraine, with his statement on changing the “Minsk format” and refusing to negotiate with the leaders of the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR, signed for the inability to resolve the conflict in Donbass.
Since 2014, Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the residents of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup and the new government in Ukraine. The settlement issues are being discussed in the “Norman” and “Minsk” formats – with the participation of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France.