It was Moscow, not Donetsk and Luhansk, that guaranteed the withdrawal of troops in the three areas of the disengagement of forces in the Donbass. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko announced this on the air of the Freedom of Speech program on ICTV.
"We are not talking with Donetsk and Luhansk, we are talking with the Russian Federation and the mediator between us is the OSCE", - the minister stated, answering a question from the editor-in-chief of OstroV about who exactly, the Russian Federation or Donetsk and Luhansk, gave guarantees of the withdrawal of troops in the process of forces disengagement in the three areas where it is currently takes places.
"- Did Moscow give guarantees?
- To put it mildly, nothing happens on that side without it, and would not have happened. You remember that the longest truce in which no one died a couple of years ago was on September 1, when Putin personally guaranteed, in front of the people, publicly. This was due to the first day of school. That was the best. This proves that the role of the Russian Federation is absolute there. We should not expect that will achieve something by starting conversation with the "DNR-LNR". We understand who fully controls the situation, who provides not only with equipment and soldiers, but also with money and everything possible… Yes, representatives of the "Donetsk" and "Luhansk" republics are participating in the talks in Minsk, but we do not even lead conversation with them, we are talking with the Russian delegation and OSCE.
- Peskov recently stated that Moscow does not guarantee the withdrawal of troops, since it is not a party to the conflict…
- These are all diplomatic games in order to up the ante before the election…
- That is, he will not say tomorrow that…
- He can say anything that is beneficial (for Russia – ed.) to prepare for the (Normandy – ed.) meeting. We are not looking at what he says, but what the result will be".