A year ago the negotiations between the Presidents of Russia, France and Ukraine – Vladimir Putin, Francois Hollande and Petro Poroshenko – and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ended with the signing of the Minsk agreements on a settlement of the armed conflict in Donbass. They allowed to put an end to the active military actions started in January 2015, but they didn't lead to a final peace.
Experts from Russia and Ukraine Vladimir Zharihin and Sergey Slobodchuk spoke in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza about the achievements and failures of the settlement process of the conflict in Donbas.
A deputy director at the Institute of the CIS, Vladimir Zharikhin, noted that in spite of the fact that Ukraine doesn't fulfill the Minsk agreement, its adoption was an important event a year ago in the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine.
"Let me remind you that the deadline for the implementation of all 13 items of Minsk-2 was December 31st 2015, and now we see that 3-4 items related to military units have been fulfilled in the best case, but even then not completely. Not in full measure, but the truce is being maintained. It seems that the result is disappointing, but it is difficult to imagine some alternative to the Minsk agreements," the expert said.
The key positive result of the Minsk agreements was the prevention of large-scale hostilities.
"It has saved thousands of people's lives on both sides of the front. The implementation of the agreement for 2016 was not extended not due to a good life. On the other hand, the United States, the main opponent of the Minsk agreements, is beginning to understand slowly but surely that they are the basis for resolving the crisis. It is no coincidence that contacts on the Ukrainian conflict between Russia and the US have increased. It is enough to recall the frequent meetings between Sergey Lavrov and John Kerry, and the recent meeting between Vladislav Surkov and Victoria Nuland," Vladimir Zharihin noticed.
Political adviser, director of Slobodchuk and Partners, Politics, PR, Elections, Sergey Slobodchuk, also noted that the Minsk agreement was a document aimed at reaching a truce, not peace in Ukraine.
"Periodically new military clashes take place, and residents of Donbass complain that are constantly shelled. But there is no direct military clashes between the regular army and militias. However, the Minsk agreement is better than nothing, because the situation could lead to war," he agreed with Zharihin.
