MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/. No progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements on the settlement of the conflict in Donbass has been made seven years since their signing, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Executive Office Dmitry Kozak said on Friday.

He noted that Ukraine is dodging implementing its commitments under the agreements, saying it is not ready to grant a special status to Lugansk and Donetsk. He recalled in 2020, when the Russian side asked the Ukrainian side at a meeting in the Normandy format whether it was ready to implement the agreements’ provision on amendments to the Ukrainian constitution, Ukraine plunged into "a week-long hysteria" alleging that Russia was meddling into Ukraine’s domestic affairs.

"It is an absolutely absurd situation, which shows that for practically eight years since the outbreak of the conflict and seven years since the signing of the Minsk agreements, it has been an utter bluff. We are at a zero point, when the clock stopped on March 9, 2015," Kozak said.

According to Kozak, three out of the four participants in the Normandy format (Russia, Germany, Ukraine, France) are not ready to implement the Minsk agreements.

"It has turned out that the Normandy format, at least, three out of the four of its members are not ready to implement the Minsk agreements, he said, commenting on the results of the talks of political advisers to the Normandy Four leaders in Berlin.

Kiev, in is words, is manipulating Berlin and Paris in the Normandy Four in a bid to evade its commitments and they are bowing to this, by backing its absurd initiatives. "Ukraine is manipulating Germany and France, and Germany and France are glad to yield to these machinations, supporting its absolutely absurd ideas and proposals. Kiev is seeking to evade carrying out its obligations at any cost, even finding itself in an awkward position. And Germany and France are actively supporting it," he said.

Despite the fact that the Berlin talks between the political advisers produced no results, it has become "crystal clear what all the statements by different politicians and partners are really worth," Kozak added.

A peace settlement of the conflict in Donbass rests on the Package of Measures, known as Minsk-2, that was signed by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising senior representatives from Russia, Ukraine and the European security watchdog OSCE on February 12, 2015, after 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 the people’s militias in the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Lugansk and the subsequent withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of contact. The deal also lays out a roadmap for a lasting settlement in Ukraine, including an amnesty, prisoner swaps, the resumption of economic ties, local elections and constitutional reform to give more autonomy to the war-torn eastern regions.

The plan remains unimplemented to this day, largely due to Ukraine’s stance. Kiev keeps on refusing to act on the political items of the agreement, citing security problems as a reason.