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US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has stated that US and Ukraine are “united” in supporting the Minsk agreements. The official said it at a joint news conference with EU High Representative Josep Borrell at the State Department, as State Department press office reported.
“If you look back over the requirements, established in the Minsk agreements… Ukraine has sought to move forward on most if not all of them, while Russia has made good on virtually none of its obligations under Minsk,” said Blinken
“Minsk does not spell out some issues of sequencing when it comes to the steps that the parties need to take. Ukraine’s been approaching this in good faith. We have not to date seen Russia do the same,” Blinken assured.
Related news: 93,902 truce violations observed in Donbas over 2021, – OSCE report
Here is a brief look at the peace agreements, signed in Minsk in 2014 and 2015.
MINSK I
After a few months of ferocious battles, which took over 2,600 lives, in September 2014, representatives of Ukraine and Donbas militants met in the Belarus capital and agreed on a 12-point truce deal. Its included prisoner exchanges, deliveries of humanitarian aid, and the withdrawal of heavy weapons. The agreement quickly broke down.
MINSK II
In February 2015, representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the leaders of Russian-backed militants signed a 13-point agreement in February 2015. Francois Hollande (French president), Angela Merkel (German chancellor), Vladimir Putin (Russia president), and Petro Poroshenko (Ukraine’s president) simultaneously gathered there and issued a declaration of support for the deal. Among the key issues of the Minsk peace are a ceasefire, weapons withdrawal, pardoning, and amnesty for people involved in the fighting (some Ukraine’s forces believe this point to be a “red line” that cannot be crossed by Ukraine’s government), restoring full control of the state border by the government of Ukraine, constitutional reform in Ukraine including the specific status of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as holding elections on the occupied territories. Kyiv, Moscow, and the unrecognized republics cannot agree on the order of implementation of the Minsk peace deal, which constitutes a stumbling block on the road to peace. Ukraine insists on restoring full control of the state border first, while Kremlin states that elections should be first.
Related news: The people of Ukraine determine their own future, there is no room for bargaining – Blinken
