Ukraine Threatens to Withdraw from the Minsk Agreements

Due to the fact that some countries wish to reduce pressure on Russia in the Council of Europe, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine Klimkin threats to abandon the Minsk agreements. Ukraine may abandon the Minsk agreements if individual European States stand for the easing the sanctions pressure on Russia within the Council of Europe, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin in Brussels, on Monday, May 13. “At the same day I will stop abiding Minsk agreements and will say that we do not have Minsk agreements now and that it was killed not only by Russia, it was killed also with your hands”, said Klimkin. The Ukrainian Minister noted that, despite the lack of a direct link between the Minsk agreements and sanctions against Russia in the Council of Europe, Ukraine has reason to do so: “If now, after Russia began to issue passports (to residents of DNR and LNR), you will meet Russia halfway, then the whole logic of what we have done so far is destroyed”. Ukraine calls on the EU to impose systemic sanctions against Russia In connection with the decision of Moscow to issue Russian passports to residents of non-government-controlled areas of Donbas Klimkin urged the European Union to give a systematic response, and not to limit with targeted sanctions. "This time nothing should end with some formal personal sanctions. If we impose sanctions  for 10, 20, 50 people — this is not the answer... We will gradually move to make a systematic response," the Foreign Minister of Ukraine told journalists in Brussels. In his opinion, the issuing of passports to the residents of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions is a threat to the entire European Union. Mogherini: We will return to this issue During the meeting of the EU Council on Monday, the issue of Russian passports for the residents of DPR and LPR was not included in the main agenda. This means that no decisions were intended. However, according to a source of DW in the EU, the Foreign Ministers of several EU countries did not welcome the issuing of Russian passports and would like to see the reaction from Brussels. In particular, Urmas Reinsalu, who took the post of Foreign Minister of Estonia in April, publicly spoke in favor of the introduction of personal sanctions, and urged the European Union not to recognize these passports. "We discussed the issue you mentioned," Mogherini said in response to a question from DW, whether we should expect sanctions against Russia in response to the issuing of passports. "I'm sure we'll get back to that issue in the coming weeks", she added. The opposition criticized Klimkin's statements on the Minsk agreements The Ukrainian party "Opposition Platform — For life" called "dangerous provocation" the words of the head of the foreign Ministry of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin about the fact that Kyiv is ready to renounce compliance with the Minsk agreements in the case that some European States will achieve the lifting of sanctions against Russia in the Council of Europe. It was recalled that the Minsk agreements are enshrined in the UN Security Council resolution of February 17, 2015, and stated that “the authors of such political decisions will be guaranteed criminal liability”. Council of Europe sanctions against Moscow The Council of Europe imposed sanctions against Russia after the Russian annexation of Crimea. Among other things, the Russian delegation to the Council of Europe was deprived of the right to vote, the opportunity to work in the governing structures of the Assembly and participate in election observation. In response, in 2017 Russia stopped paying contributions to the budget of the Council of Europe. For two years, this amount was about 33 million euros, what is almost 10 percent of the  organization budget. Non-payment may lead to suspension of Russia's membership in the Council of Europe, and then to its exclusion from the organization. Moscow itself regularly threatens to exit from the organization. DW