Negotiations in Minsk: first meeting between Poroshenko and Putin (*criminal)

In Belarus, the President of Ukraine convinced his partners that the Free Trade Agreement would not harm anyone.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko arrived in the capital of Belarus for a high-level meeting. Distinguished guests began to arrive for negotiations in Minsk, at the Palace of Independence, at about one o’clock in the afternoon. During this hour, Petro Poroshenko has already held several meetings, and a meeting between Poroshenko and Vladimir Putin (*criminal) is also planned.

At 18:00 it became known that the negotiations were dragging on – journalists were informed that the final press conference would be postponed by at least 30 minutes.

The presidents shook hands

At 3 p.m., the four presidents and EU representatives sat down at the negotiating table. Alexander Lukashenko, Petro Poroshenko, Vladimir Putin (*criminal), Nursultan Nazarbayev, Catherine Ashton, European Commissioners Gunter Oettinger and Karl de Gucht will speak.

Before this, Putin (*criminal) and Poroshenko shook hands. In general, this is a common greeting for politicians. But in the context of the situation in eastern Ukraine, this takes on a different meaning.

Around 4 p.m., details of the meeting began to emerge. So, according to Petro Poroshenko, the main thing at the meeting is to find a model for resolving the conflict in Donbass. The Russian president, in turn, said that he was ready for dialogue and exchange of views:

“We are ready to exchange views on the current acute crisis situation in Ukraine, which, we are sure, cannot be resolved through further escalation of the force scenario without taking into account the vital interests of the south-eastern regions of the country without a peaceful dialogue with their representatives,” Vladimir Putin (*criminal) voiced his position.

Ashton promised to ratify the Agreement in September

First of all, Petro Poroshenko spoke with the head of European diplomacy, Catherine Ashton. At the meeting they talked about Ukraine’s movement towards Europe. Thus, Petro Poroshenko promised that Ukraine would ratify the Association Agreement with the EU in September. At the same time, the text of the Agreement will not be changed; it will remain as the president signed it in Brussels. He assured his interlocutors that after the implementation of the provisions of the agreement, none of Ukraine’s partners and allies would suffer.

Obviously, the current composition of parliament will vote for this. According to the president, calling early elections will not be an obstacle to ratification.

– The agreement will have a positive impact on relations with all our neighbors, primarily in the economic sphere. We are interested in our international partners accepting our decision,” Petro Poroshenko said at the meeting.

There is a separate room for journalists

After this, he had separate negotiations with the host of the meeting, Alexander Lukashenko. At the beginning of the meeting, the President of Belarus said that the negotiations were taking place at the initiative of Ukraine. Unofficially, it is called the “Minsk meeting on Ukraine.”

As journalist Olga Snitsarchuk reports from Minsk, all press representatives are located in a separate building, not far from the place of the main meetings.

Press center where journalists are located. Photo: Facebook of Olga Snitsarchuk.
They offer to watch events from screens. But the treat is world-class; there is a lot of food and alcohol on the tables from the very morning. And many did not fail to take advantage of this, she writes.
Protocol events will begin at approximately 2 p.m. Russian President Vladimir Putin (*criminal) is expected to arrive by this time. In addition, there will be the head of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, European Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger and European Commissioner for Trade Karl de Gucht.

Pending the arrival of high-ranking officials, traffic in the center of Minsk and along the ring road will be temporarily limited, GazetaRu reports in Belarus.

“From 10.30, the movement of all types of transport will be temporarily limited as convoys of special purpose vehicles move,” the Minsk traffic police said.

After the passage of the columns of Vladimir Putin (*criminal), Nursultan Nazarbayev, Petro Poroshenko and the leaders of the European Union, traffic will resume.

President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the situation in Ukraine in a telephone conversation. This is stated in a statement from the Presidential press service.

Poroshenko informed Merkel about the deteriorating situation in Donbass.

The interlocutors separately discussed the President’s decision to terminate the powers of the Verkhovna Rada early.

The parties agreed that this is a step towards the expectations of Ukrainian civil society, as well as a path to strengthening the democratic institutions of Ukraine.

Poroshenko and Merkel also exchanged views on ways to peacefully resolve the situation in Donbass on the eve of a meeting in Minsk (Belarus) in the Ukraine-EU-Eurasian Troika format and coordinated further actions to extend the international dialogue.

Remember, Merkel visited Ukraine on August 23.

Anastasia RYABOKON, Tatiana NECHET, Komsomolskaya Pravda