Minister for Reintegration: ending the war cannot be resolved within “Minsk”

The Normandy format has become the main platform for negotiations, while the Minsk format cannot resolve the issue of ending the war with Russia and bringing peace.

Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksii Reznikov stated this in an interview with TSN.

"Please understand that the issue of ending the war and bringing peace cannot be resolved within the framework of Minsk. This is not the platform, nor the needed level of competence of the people who take part in it, with all due respect to all members of the Ukrainian delegation, OSCE or Russia. A decision to end the war and bring peace to Ukraine is possible only at the level of top officials: Ukraine, Russia with the help of our mediators, peacekeepers from France and Germany, and leaders of other leading countries may join," Deputy Prime Minister said.

Reznikov explains that in the first years of the war, Ukraine was "forced to agree to these Minsk agreements at the barrel on the temple." However, according to him, today the situation has changed dramatically.

"Today, when the timing of Minsk's implementation has passed, when all deadlines have passed, we can look and say that there are certain conditions in the Minsk agreements that Ukraine cannot fulfill because they are against Ukraine's interests, they are against safe reintegration of those territories and their return to Ukraine. That is, against the full restoration of territorial integrity. The leaders of the Normandy format must sit down and say honestly: it will not work, because…; it will work, but only if we clarify a little how it can happen. That is, the process needs modernizing a bit. I am not saying to abandon, change, abolish. We need to face up to the truth and say: it won't work, let's look for an alternative," the minister said.