Moscow competently squeezed out of Zelensky everything that the political situation at the summit allowed - expert
Russia and the LDPR take some liberties in the interpretation of certain clauses of the Minsk agreements. At the same time, there are no plans to abandon the agreements or change the sequence of their implementation.
Historian and political scientist Vladimir Kornilov stated this on the Rossiya-1 TV channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“It’s positive that during this meeting Zelensky dropped to the ground a little. Although then, according to his briefing after the press conference, we saw that in many ways the illusion was not dispelled that it was possible to get the border before the elections.
It's important that Putin, in every answer to every question, repeated the same thing Russia has been repeating all these years: that the Minsk agreements must be implemented and cannot be rewritten. Putin said that certain points can be interpreted; that's what the "Normandy format," the "Minsk format," is for.
And indeed, the notorious clause on border control, the idée fixe of Ukraine and the LDPR, is interpreted as follows: “Give one representative at our border point, let him sit and control. So much for border control. Isn’t that what Ukraine really means? It can be interpreted in different ways, this is why negotiations are needed, constant and systematic.
But Putin emphasized, I quote: “The Minsk agreements cannot be opened, the points there and their sequence cannot be changed.” And Russia, and especially the Donbass republics, are not going to move away from this position,” he noted.
Vladimir Kornilov is also confident that Russia, France, and Germany will now exploit Volodymyr Zelenskyy's public refusal to implement the Minsk agreements for their own purposes.
“And here it is very important to record this, and at the international level.
I am sure that Lavrov will tell this at a meeting with Trump and Pompeo, and Russia will record this more than once, that it is Ukraine that refuses to implement the Minsk agreements. And Putin always emphasizes: “We are for the steady implementation of the Minsk agreements.”
And the next time Ukraine demands sanctions for Russia's failure to comply with the Minsk agreements, we need to quote Zelensky, Avakov , and all Ukrainian leaders.
The fact that Zelensky expressed his disagreement with the Minsk agreements is good for Russia, and in some ways for Germany and France. This gives both Russia and these countries a free hand.
This is not bad at all, you just need to understand: Poroshenko said everything that Zelensky said publicly in Ukraine, for the Ukrainian audience, for the Ukrainian media.
And Zelensky, still an inexperienced person, decided to voice this on the international stage. And this must be used,” the expert concluded.
Moscow skillfully squeezed everything the political situation at the summit allowed out of Zelensky – expert