Answering a question from a TASS correspondent on prospects for the conflict settlement, Simonovic noted the important role of the Minsk agreements. Ukraine, the region and the international community cannot allow the agreements to fail, he said. The Minsk agreements were developed at the highest level, they are the result of hard work, Simonovic added. If these efforts do not continue, it will be a disaster, he concluded.
Minsk agreements on Ukraine ceasefire
On February 12, negotiations were held in Minsk, Belarus, bringing together Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The talks lasted for around 14 hours.
Simultaneously, a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukrainian settlement was held in Minsk, bringing together former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Kiev’s special representative for humanitarian issues Viktor Medvedchuk, both representing the Ukrainian side, alongside representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) special envoy to Ukraine, Heidi Tagliavini, and Russia’s ambassador to Ukraine, Mikhail Zurabov, who acts as a mediator.
As a result, a package of measures on implementing the Minsk agreements was adopted, including on ceasefire in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions starting from February 15, heavy weaponry withdrawal and long-term political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
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