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Amendments to procedure of Minsk II implementation not under discussion yet — Kremlin

On Thursday, Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky said that he was not pleased with the 2015 Minsk peace deal, in particular with the sequence of steps therein
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Metzel/TASS
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov
© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

ASHGABAT, October 11. /TASS/. Changes in the procedure of implementing the Minsk agreements have not been discussed yet, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky said that he is not pleased with the 2015 Minsk peace deal, as the sequence of steps stipulated in the agreement does not satisfy him.

"It is not a matter of discussion yet," the Kremlin spokesman commented when asked whether Moscow was ready to negotiate amendments to the procedure of the Minsk II implementation.

"For this purpose, someone needs to announce officially that they are withdrawing from the Minsk Action Plan," Peskov explained noting that "then it will be quite an opposite modality."

"And to talk about something else following this modality, among other things, negotiations should be held with representatives of both republics [the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, DPR and LPR respectively — TASS]," stated the Russian presidential press secretary.

"A question arises about Moscow’s attitude to that, and that is an important matter. However, besides Moscow, it is of importance how Berlin looks at it and how Paris looks at it," Peskov added. "There is another important question: What is the two republics’ [of Donbass] attitude? It should neither be forgotten nor ignored."

Minsk peace deal

Peace settlement of the conflict in Donbass rests on the Package of Measures, known as Minsk II, that was signed on February 12, 2015 by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising senior representatives from Russia, Ukraine and the European security watchdog OSCE, following marathon 16-hour talks between the leaders of the Normandy Four nations, namely Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine. The 13-point document envisages a ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and people’s militias in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and subsequent withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of engagement. The deal also lays out a roadmap for a lasting settlement in Ukraine, including amnesty, resumption of economic ties, local elections and a constitutional reform to give more autonomy to the war-torn eastern regions.

Nevertheless, the deal has not been implemented yet. Ukraine refused to carry through the deal’s political provisions citing irregularities in security issues. Kiev has not amended the constitution, has not passed the law on granting a special status to Donbass on a permanent basis and has not enforced the law on local elections. Instead, Kiev insists on regaining control over a section of its border with Russia, regardless of the fact that under the Minsk agreements, it could take place as soon as local elections are held and the constitution reform is over in Ukraine.