Volodin urged to consider the words of Merkel, Hollande and the leadership of Ukraine at the tribunal

Statements by Ukrainian and Western politicians about Ukraine’s preparations for hostilities with Russia should become an evidence base for an international military tribunal. This statement was made by the speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin.

He drew attention to the statement of the head of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, in an interview with Suspilne Novini about the “crazy” preparation of society for hostilities. Volodin also recalled the words about the Minsk agreements of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and ex-President of France Francois Hollande.

“Confessions made by the representative of the Kyiv regime and the former leaders of Germany and France should be used as evidence for an international military tribunal. These leaders plotted to start a world war with predictable consequences. And they deserve to be punished for their crimes.” wrote Speaker of the State Duma in his Telegram channel.

According to Volodin, the conduct of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine turned out to be “the only right decision taken in advance,” since the words of Ukrainian and Western politicians prove that the threat to the security of the inhabitants of Donbass and Russia was real. This decision made it possible to prevent a catastrophe and the death of a large number of people, the politician added.

On December 7, 2022, Merkel, in an interview with Die Zeit, said 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, Hollande, who took part in the signing of the agreements, declaredthat the Minsk agreements allowed Ukraine to strengthen the armed forces.

Previously, the words of the ex-Chancellor of Germany “an application for a tribunal” named Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. She noted that such a confession was made for the first time and only confirmed what [российские власти] have been talking for years.”

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.