The implementation of the Minsk agreements should be carried out by all parties according to a clear schedule and in a timely manner, as stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a briefing during a working trip to the Donetsk region.
Answering journalists' questions whether Ukraine should initiate a revision of the Minsk agreements in order to establish peace in Donbas, the President said: “My attitude to “Minsk” is very simple: we must split it into details, outline all the steps, link them to the dates and fulfill. We stand for such a format. That's what we did”.
According to him, political advisers to the leaders of the "Normandy Four" worked on the preparation of a document with specific dates and time frames for the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
"Now the latest version of this document has been sent to all parties. We expect that the parties will accept this document in the near future, and then there will be an opportunity to bring the meeting of the "Normandy Four" closer,” the President added.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also stated that Ukraine adheres to all the agreements reached with his participation during the meeting of leaders of the Normandy format in December 2019 in Paris.
"People were returned, we carried out the disengagement of troops and demining of a number of areas. However, much has not been done as well," he said.
The Head of State also reminded that according to the agreements, a regime of silence was declared on July 27.
"I believe that this is one of the most important agreements, which took place not in words, because the ceasefire has been talked about for seven years. And on July 27, it was really put introduced," he said.
At the same time, despite the agreement on a regime of silence, the enemy from time to time shells Ukrainian positions. Therefore, to support our military, the President and the Command of the Armed Forces are constantly visiting the frontline.
"Our constant visits, as they say in the army, "to zero” make it possible to understand that the army is in a normal state - a strong state, in particular psychologically. This is also very important. So that the enemy sees that we think about our army and we do care," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
He said that today, together with the ambassadors of a number of foreign countries, he visited Ukrainian positions near Avdiivka, the Industrial Zone, Shumy, and also visited a position located 80 meters from the enemy. There, the President talked to the military and saw with his own eyes what was happening on the frontline.
The Head of State noted that he focused on these three positions because, according to JFO Commander Volodymyr Kravchenko, there were complications and a large number of violations of the regime of silence by the enemy were recorded here.
"We understand what is happening. We understand that a ceasefire is needed only for us. We understand that the separatists want to disrupt it. We understand that. But the resilience of our military shows that we will not allow that to happen," the President said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also stressed that Ukrainian soldiers should respond to the enemy in the event of a breach of the ceasefire and shelling of our positions.
"Our guys know very well: if snipers kill our military, they must find an adequate response to those snipers. That's exactly what they do," he said.
"They never get an order to strike in response from me. They have an order to act in such cases exactly as they act. And they respond exactly as it is necessary in such a situation,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy added.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen noted: “The Minsk agreements, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, are the only way to a peaceful settlement of this war. Could it happen soon? We don't know. But we are working very actively on this in both Berlin and Paris. I hope we’ll see the end of this war".
