Nebenzya called Kyiv’s refusal from the Minsk agreements a tragedy for Ukraine

The refusal of the political leadership of Ukraine to implement the Minsk agreements turned out to be a tragedy for the country, declared Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vasily Nebenzya.

“The refusal to implement the Minsk agreements turned out to be a tragedy for Ukraine, which occurred because of the criminal policy of the Ukrainian leadership, incited by the collective West. We are sure that the Ukrainian people will give their assessment to this crime,” he said.

Nebenzya made this statement at a meeting of the UN Security Council, convened by the Russian Federation in connection with the anniversary of the Security Council resolution that approved a set of measures to implement the Minsk agreements.

The diplomat also said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was able to win the 2019 presidential election because he promised voters a national dialogue, protection of the Russian language, and interethnic harmony. Later, according to Nebenzi, he “forgot” his promises “to please the geopolitical ambitions of the West.”

The Trilateral Contact Group (authorized by Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE) in September 2014 signed the first Minsk agreements, which ended the active part of the hostilities in the south-east of Ukraine. The second Minsk agreements stopped the escalation of the conflict in February 2015 in the Debaltseve region and were signed with the participation of Germany and France.

On December 7, 2022, former German Chancellor Merkel said in an interview with Die Zeit that “everyone understood” that the Minsk agreements only froze the conflict in eastern Ukraine, but did not solve it. According to her, the 2014 agreements gave Kyiv “priceless time.” At the end of December, Merkel’s words confirmed and former French President Francois Hollande, who took part in the signing of the accords.

Earlier, on February 16, ex-presidential aide Vladislav Surkov answered in the negative to the question whether, when working on the Minsk agreements, he proceeded from the fact that they must be implemented. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov after that declaredthat at the stage of preparation of the Minsk agreements, Moscow remained optimistic and hoped to reach a settlement. Pessimism appeared already at the final stage of the negotiations, he noted.