Monday, August 24, 2015

Minsk agreements must be fully implemented - meeting between Ukrainian, German and French leaders



Following the negotiations with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and President of France Francois Hollande, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko noted: "There is no alternative to the Minsk process".

"We are confident that the Minsk process, which is based on the peace plan, is an absolutely universal instrument," he said.

The Head of State drew attention to the provisions of the Minsk agreements - immediate ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weaponry and artillery, immediate liberation of hostages, unimpeded access for the OSCE SMM to the control over the execution of the achieved agreements, as well as a complex of issues: political, humanitarian, social, economic, which facilitate peace and de-escalation of the conflict.


"I am pleased to state that Ukraine strictly fulfills the undertaken commitments on the ceasefire regime, cooperation with the OSCE, withdrawal of heavy weaponry, implementation of humanitarian issues, including the creation of three humanitarian-logistics centers by the end of this month that will significantly simplify the life of Ukrainians in the occupied areas. The activity of humanitarian missions will be guaranteed. We carry out actions that will restore the supply of water and electricity jointly, fulfilling the commitments undertaken," Petro Poroshenko noted.

The main thing is to begin the political process, as stated by the President. He reminded that he submitted the draft Constitution to the Parliament, which fully meets the commitments undertaken by Ukraine and which has been approved by the Constitutional Commission of Ukraine and the Venice Commission.

"We clearly declare that for today, unfortunately, Russia and Russia-backed militants pose the only threat to the restoration of peace and stability in the region," he said.

The parties discussed the necessity of ensuring security for the international observers from the OSCE SMM. They clearly agreed that they must ensure unimpeded access to all territories, including the uncontrolled area of the Ukrainian-Russian border in order to stop the supply of Russian troops, weapons and ammunition to the occupied territory.

The interlocutors discussed the extreme danger of fake elections of October 18 and November 1 that do not comply with the Ukrainian legislation. It is a serious threat to the entire Minsk process, as stated by Petro Poroshenko.

The parties paid special attention to the liberation of hostages, including those imprisoned in Russia: Sentsov, Savchenko and others. "I am confident that we should coordinate our steps in full, strict and comprehensive compliance with the Minsk agreements," the President noted.

"I am grateful to Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Francois for helping Ukraine implement the Association Agreement. It is crucially important. We re grateful that almost all EU member states, except Cyprus and Greece, have ratified this Agreement. I am very grateful for the support in the fulfillment of technical requirements on the visa-free regime Agreement. I believe that our cooperation in economic context is extremely important for the implementation of reforms and the restoration of the Ukrainian economy affected by war," the Head of State emphasized.

The President also thanked for the interest and support of France and Germany to the reforms currently implemented in Ukraine.

"I believe that the Normandy format has a special importance for our countries. We reiterate strict compliance with the Minsk agreements. We agreed to use the nearest opportunities, inter alia, in the framework of the international events, to transmit these signals to Moscow," the President said.
"I hope that the main result of our today's meeting will be the de-escalation in Donbas, termination of bloodshed, promotion of the early discussion on the modality of holding local elections under the Ukrainian law and the ODIHR standards," the Head of State concluded.

In their statements, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande emphasized the need for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. Chancellor Merkel noted that today's meeting was aimed at strengthening the Normandy format and fulfillment of the Minsk agreements. "We believe that the Minsk agreements must be a foundation for the achievement of peace in Ukraine," she said.

The parties noted that the Minsk agreements' provisions on the ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weaponry and access for the OSCE observers are not fulfilled. "We see that this mission cannot function and drones, which we found with difficulties, cannot operate because of constant obstructions," the Chancellor noted adding that the given issue requires solution.

At the same time, Angela Merkel called it a great achievement that "constitutional amendments in Ukraine have been organized as it had been agreed in Minsk". The Chancellor also called it important to hold democratic elections.

In his turn, Francois Hollande emphasized that all signatories to the Minsk agreements are responsible for the fulfillment of its provisions. "The main thing today is to fully implement the Minsk agreements. President Poroshenko can confirm that Ukraine has made substantial efforts to hold all the necessary reforms, including constitutional and electoral reform," he said.

Speaking of the ratification of the Association Agreement, the President of France admitted: "It is really a long process. France and Germany must uphold the process for the Agreement to finally enter into force and the European prospect of Ukraine to be confirmed".

The President of Ukraine thanked the Chancellor of Germany and President of France for their greetings to the people of Ukraine on the occasion of the Independence Day.


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