The head of the Ukrainian delegation in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on the settlement of the conflict in Donbass, the first president of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, called the Minsk agreements of 2015 a "political noose around the neck" of Kyiv, which prevents decision-making.
About this he сообщил in his interview with TSN on Friday, November 13.
"The set of measures signed in 2015 under Petro Poroshenko is a huge mistake. This is a political noose around the neck of Ukraine and one of the brakes that prevents us from making decisions everywhere and in everything," Kravchuk said.
He cited the example of yesterday's TCG meeting.
"They repeated the same thing, that, they say, Ukraine is changing the philosophy and order of the Minsk agreements. That there are first elections, and then the border, and Ukraine wants the opposite. And then they don't want to listen to me about the fact that this complex of mayors was signed in very difficult conditions, military operations continued. But the fact remains the fact. How to get rid of this main point? Now they are shoving this document in our eyes. But I tell them that this is not the only document that was adopted in the Minsk process, the Normandy format. Many documents have been adopted, so it is necessary to take the whole complex of decisions, and not to focus on one point about the elections and the border," explained Kravchuk.
At the same time, according to him, possible compromises were discussed in the TCG.
"There is, for example, the idea that, perhaps, the entire border should not be transferred to the control of Ukraine first, perhaps together with the forces of the OSCE. There are many options, but the main principle is that it is impossible to hold elections according to Ukrainian law in the territory where there is not a single gram of Ukrainian," added Kravchuk.
At the same time, he believes that in order to hold local elections in Donbass on March 31, 2021, it is necessary to adopt several laws, in particular, on the specifics of elections in ORDLO.
"The law has only been adopted, and it is already possible to prepare for the elections - in February, March and part of January. There is enough time. And it is not being prepared today. We are not doing this from scratch. There are already developments, the law is being adopted, elections are being held," Kravchuk noted.
In addition, it is necessary to adopt laws on demilitarization and amnesty, Kravchuk added.
