The ignorance of Western countries’ fears that Russia was not complying with the Minsk agreements of Ukraine heralded the start of a special military operation. On this topic the program “Moscow” is on the air. Kremlin. Russian President Dmitry Peskov’s press secretary said in a statement on Putin’s TV channel Russia 24:
According to him, Moscow gradually realized that the promises of Kiev and its Western partners under the Minsk agreements were a hoax. “President Putin and our other representatives talked about it all the time. But all this was ignored by other participants in the negotiation process. And all this is just a harbinger of a special military operation, ”Peskov said.
Thus, the Kremlin spokesperson interpreted the words of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In an interview with Zeit newspaper on December 7, he said the Minsk agreements were signed to give Ukraine “precious time to get stronger”. Merkel added that the West understood at that time that the conflict between Kiev and Moscow was frozen, but not completed. And in 2014, NATO likely could not have provided Ukraine with as much military assistance as it is today.
Recognition of the former Chancellor of Germany practically did not go unnoticed in the Western and Ukrainian media, and European politicians hardly commented on it. One of the few foreign leaders to raise his voice on this issue was Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. He described Merkel’s words as “incredible” and recalled that former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also said that Kiev would not abide by the Minsk agreements.
“This fundamentally changes the situation politically. This is a clear sign that you shouldn’t trust me. If only they could fool them by playing with someone stronger than us (Russia) <…> But since 2012 we have used time better than others,” said Vučić.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyrgyzstan on December 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Merkel’s words disappointed him.
“This is disappointing. Frankly, I didn’t expect to hear that from the former Federal Chancellor. Because I always assumed that the FRG leadership was sincere with us. Now, of course, the issue of trust arises.”
He noted that trust between Russia and the EU has fallen to “almost zero”. And taking into account the confessions of the former German chancellor, the question arises of how Moscow and the Western countries will negotiate in the future, what guarantees such agreements will have.
At the same time, he expressed confidence that Western countries would have to negotiate with Moscow anyway. And Russia is ready, open to such agreements.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described Merkel’s remarks as the first open confession of fraud.
“Yes, the Kiev regime has repeatedly said that it will not honor the Minsk agreements, but the West, that is, countries that are directly part of the Normandy format, and their leaders have never declared it so clearly,” said Zakharova.
According to her, Merkel really admitted that forgery was a method of action by Western countries “who knew that they would never do this and that they would pump weapons into the Kiev regime” in 2015.
“They do not feel sorry for the civilian population of Donbass and for Ukraine as a whole. They needed a conflict, and even then they were ready for it. This is a special application for a court,” Zakharova summarized.