Minsk Talks Show Trust Exists Between
Russia, France, Germany - Experts
12.02.2015 Sputnik/ Russia
http://sputniknews.com/analysis/20150212/1018186938.html
The new deal on the East Ukraine standoff includes a comprehensive ceasefire and a further
withdrawal of heavy weapons from the crisis-hit region, constitutional reforms and
decentralization of the country.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The participation of the leaders from Russia, Germany and France in the
negotiations that were held in Minsk on Wednesday and Thursday shows that there is trust
between the three countries, experts told Sputnik.
"The negotiations show that there is trust between Paris, Berlin and Moscow, which means
that there is trust between the leaders of the countries," Alain Deletroz, senior Associate
Fellow at the FRIDE think tank said.
According to Deletroz, the fact that the agreement was negotiated by two of the strongest
leaders of the European Union together with Poroshenko and Putin puts more pressure
on the sides that may attempt to violate the agreement.
"They negotiated very harsh for 15 hours, so I think this time if the parties don't implement,
they will have problems with these leaders," Deletroz said.
The expert expressed some concern with the fact that the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine will
only come into effect on February 15. In his opinion, this means that in the next hours we
will see "fighting resuming, because the two sides will try to make the best games they can
before Saturday evening".
Speaking about the text of the current agreement, Deletroz said that it is "very global and
vague" which means there "could be doubts that a text like this will be indeed respected
by all parties".
Nevertheless, he evaluated the results of the talks as "very positive news, at least for the
people living in Donbass".
Thanos Dokos from the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, shares this
attitude and hopes that "the assessment for the situation has changed and this time they
accept the provisions of the agreement".
According to the expert, Russian President Vladimir Putin "made a good contribution with his
participation".
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko,
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande held a meeting
in the Normandy Format that lasted for about 15 hours.
The new deal on the East Ukraine standoff includes a comprehensive ceasefire and a further
withdrawal of heavy weapons from the crisis-hit region, constitutional reforms and
decentralization of the country.