Ukraine Proposed Negotiating the Donbass without Russia

The Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov suggested that Great Britain and the United States organize negotiations on the situation in the Donbass in the Budapest format but without Russia's participation at first. He expressed his opinion in the article published on the website of the Atlantic Council - a research center operating under the NATO auspices. According to Reznikov, negotiations should be carried out without Russia, since it violated the Budapest memorandum, concluded in 1994, and attacked Ukraine. “We must now consider returning to the Budapest format. At first, consultations should be held without the participation of Russia, given that Moscow renounced its guarantor status and chose becoming an occupying force,” he wrote. At the same time, he added that the Budapest format will eventually provide an opportunity for a new interaction with Moscow. Reznikov also noted that it is not worth refusing the Minsk format as it allows the exchanging prisoners. Ukraine, Russia, the USA and Great Britain signed the Budapest Memorandum in 1994. According to this document Kiev joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and eliminated its nuclear potential while Russia, the USA and Great Britain guaranteed its security.