There will be no concessions: Putin limited himself to a couple of phrases about Ukraine – Bortnik
Russian President Vladimir Putin's current speech at the annual press conference paid much less attention to the Ukrainian agenda than in previous speeches.
Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute of Policy Analysis and Management, told a PolitNavigator correspondent about this.
“Putin, in fact, accused the entire Ukrainian political elite, saying that “heads of state, when they come to power, rely on the majority of voters, and when they get to power, they already begin to hesitate a little and constantly look back at the extreme nationalist forces.” Perhaps this did not apply only to Yanukovych and Yushchenko.
There was a statement that Russia would maintain support for Donbass, and, as it was said, “this concerns maintaining production, resolving social and infrastructural issues, and so on.” It is clear that Russia will not recognize the LDPR in the near future, because this would mean its withdrawal from the Minsk agreements and the undermining of its position in the negotiation process.
But further steps to strengthen passportization, recognition of state and social institutions of the LDPR as horizontal partners of Russian authorities, and attempts to provide international platforms for representatives of the LDPR are quite possible.
Overall, Putin’s speech contained much less of the Ukrainian agenda than before. He made it clear that Russia will not concede a single point in the Minsk agreements, which are internationally recognized law and must be implemented. All this shows that the Russian leadership feels disappointed in the new Ukrainian president, as in all previous ones. And that Russia today is not ready to unilaterally make any compromises or concessions to Ukraine in the Donbass case,” the political scientist said.
There will be no concessions : Putin limited himself to a couple of phrases about Ukraine – Bortnik