State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that after former German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s statement, Berlin and Paris should pay compensation to Donbass residents. The German politician had previously said in an interview that the Minsk agreements were signed to give Ukraine time and thus help it become stronger.
“The situation in Ukraine is a consequence of the deceptive policy of the leaders of these states … Germany and France participated in the signing of the Minsk agreements. But no one planned to execute them, as Merkel noted, describing it as an attempt to give Ukraine time for its militarization, ”Volodin wrote on his Telegram channel.
The Head of the State Duma accused the French and German authorities of “not fulfilling the preplanned obligations” undertaken as a result of the signing of the agreement. According to her, this is not only a loss of confidence, but also “of those who signed the Minsk agreements – Merkel, [экс-президент Франции Франсуа] Hollande and [бывший президент Украины Петр] Poroshenko – they need to answer.
According to Volodin, after the former German Chancellor’s statement, France and Germany “take moral and material responsibility for what is happening in Ukraine.”
“They will have to pay compensation to the residents of Donbass for 8 years of genocide and damage. But this is just the beginning,” says Volodin.
He also expressed the view that European residents “should know to whom they owe the problems that arise”, including inflation, electricity and heating problems, and the work of businesses.
What did Angela Merkel say?
Former Chancellor of Germany, in an interview with Die Zeit newspaper… statedThat all participants in the Minsk agreements understood that the conflict in Ukraine was only suspended, the problem remained unresolved.
“The Minsk Agreement of 2014 was an attempt to give Ukraine time. As you can see today, he used this time to become stronger. Merkel said that the 2014-2015 Ukraine is not modern Ukraine.
The politician also expressed the view that at the time of the Minsk agreements, NATO countries would not be able to provide Ukraine with the amount of assistance they do now.
“As you saw in the battles for Debaltseve in early 2015, Putin could easily have taken them back then. And I very much doubt that NATO countries would then be able to do as much to help Ukraine as they do now,” he said.
Compensation “will not be superfluous”
During a meeting with members of the Human Rights Council, Vladimir Putin said that compensation for Ukraine’s damage to Donbass “would not be superfluous”. At the same time, he expressed the view that it is “pointless” to expect anything from the Ukrainian authorities, therefore, residents of the affected areas should be helped.
“The actions of this regime should be evaluated. The same applies to compensation for the damage caused by Ukraine to the Donbass, today all these regions – the new regions of Russia. And this will certainly not be superfluous, ”Putin said.
Commenting on Angela Merkel’s statement on the Minsk agreements, the President of the Russian Federation described it as unexpected and disappointing.
“Frankly, I did not expect to hear this from the former Federal Chancellor, because I always proceeded from the friendly attitude of the leadership of the Federal Republic of Germany towards us. Yes, of course he was on the side of Ukraine, he supported it, but it seemed to me that the leadership of the Federal Republic of Germany always sought a solution on the principles that we sincerely agreed on.”
According to him, Russia was waiting to reach an agreement with Ukraine within the framework of the Minsk agreements. However, Merkel’s statement suggested that the military operation should have started earlier.
“And so the trust is almost zero, but after such statements, of course, the question arises of how to negotiate, what and whether it is possible to negotiate with someone,” Putin noted that eventually this will be necessary. bargain.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko also expressed his opinion. He said the parties were serious about resolving the conflict and that the former German chancellor had acted “disgustingly”, expressing a similar stance.
“It would be disgusting if it was as he said. But this is not so … He behaved small, disgusting, he wants to be in trend, ”Lukashenko said in Moscow. Kremlin. Putin.”
“After the Minsk talks, the whole world said that they finally stepped in and signed agreements, the war stopped, people stopped dying. All of this has been evaluated positively,” he said.
The Minsk Memorandum on the cessation of weapons use in southeastern Ukraine was signed in 2014 by representatives of Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, DPR and LPR. Due to the violation of the agreements, the second Minsk Agreement was signed in 2015.