Q: Would you please touch upon the statements made by the previous Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, who mentioned in interview with the Ukrainian station Espreso TV that the primary aim of the Minsk agreements was to not attain a settlement within the Donbas however fairly to realize time in order that Ukraine might replenish its arms provides and strengthen its armed forces?
A: France, alongside Germany, spent almost eight years working towards the implementation of the Minsk agreements. The aim of those agreements was to facilitate the reintegration of the areas beneath separatist management utilizing a decentralized mannequin throughout the framework of Ukrainian sovereignty. On February 21, the Russian president unilaterally acknowledged the independence of the self-proclaimed separatist republics, thereby going again on all of Russia’s commitments, and, particularly, the package deal of measures used to implement the Minsk agreements. Russia was a signatory to those agreements and their implementation was supported by UN Safety Council decision 2202. As was demonstrated by the French president’s Kyiv go to on June 16, France continues to do its utmost to place an finish to the Russian aggression, which stands in violation of probably the most basic guidelines of worldwide legislation, and to revive Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
