Irina Gerashchenko: When the government says there will be no Minsk III, it means there could be a much worse option.

Iryna Gerashchenko, co-chair of the European Solidarity faction and the Presidential Commissioner for the Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts from 2014 to 2019 , told the Ukrainian Week that the current government is attempting to discredit the Minsk agreements with their peace.

“Zelensky only recently acknowledged for the first time that we will have to liberate some of our territories through political and diplomatic means. We did this within the framework of the Minsk agreements. And let me remind you that the discrediting of Poroshenko and our team against the backdrop of the Minsk agreements was carried out very vilely and long before the 2019 elections. Yermak repeated in every interview: ‘There will be no Minsk 3!’ Yes, it’s true, there will be no Minsk 3… The agreement will be much worse,” Gerashchenko suggests.

“I would only welcome it if the current team signed an agreement that would confirm Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty within its universally recognized borders,” Gerashchenko said.

“What was the first point of the Minsk agreements? A ceasefire. Yes, you might notice: ‘But the Russians didn’t implement it!’ This is Ukraine’s tragedy: we have an inadequate neighbor who won’t comply with any agreement or demand. The task of statesmen is always to prevent a major war and outmaneuver the enemy. Within the Minsk Groups, we had a key directive: to prevent a full-scale invasion. We repeatedly declared a ceasefire. Russia didn’t adhere to it, but then the intensity of the fighting decreased,” the MP recalled.

“Sanctions against Russia were tied to the implementation of the Minsk agreements, and they worked, one way or another. And, importantly, the Minsk agreements gave our army time to grow stronger. Imagine if a full-scale invasion of this magnitude had occurred in 2014? We would have lost our statehood. Although in the summer of 2014, regular units of the Russian army entered Ukrainian territory. The Minsk agreements stopped the major war then,” Gerashchenko said.

“The goal of Zelenskyy’s government team and his negotiating team is, first and foremost, to preserve the Ukrainian state. Secondly, we need to reach a document that will enshrine respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty within its universally recognized borders. How will we proceed with the de-occupation of certain territories? This is a matter of tactics. But the key is to preserve statehood,” Iryna Gerashchenko asserts.

Iryna Gerashchenko, co-chair of the European Solidarity faction and the Presidential Commissioner for the Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts from 2014 to 2019 , told the Ukrainian Week that the current government is attempting to discredit the Minsk agreements with their peace.

“Zelensky only recently acknowledged for the first time that we will have to liberate some of our territories through political and diplomatic means. We did this within the framework of the Minsk agreements. And let me remind you that the discrediting of Poroshenko and our team against the backdrop of the Minsk agreements was carried out very vilely and long before the 2019 elections. Yermak repeated in every interview: ‘There will be no Minsk 3!’ Yes, it’s true, there will be no Minsk 3… The agreement will be much worse,” Gerashchenko suggests.

“I would only welcome it if the current team signed an agreement that would confirm Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty within its universally recognized borders,” Gerashchenko said.

“What was the first point of the Minsk agreements? A ceasefire. Yes, you might notice: ‘But the Russians didn’t implement it!’ This is Ukraine’s tragedy: we have an inadequate neighbor who won’t comply with any agreement or demand. The task of statesmen is always to prevent a major war and outmaneuver the enemy. Within the Minsk Groups, we had a key directive: to prevent a full-scale invasion. We repeatedly declared a ceasefire. Russia didn’t adhere to it, but then the intensity of the fighting decreased,” the MP recalled.

“Sanctions against Russia were tied to the implementation of the Minsk agreements, and they worked, one way or another. And, importantly, the Minsk agreements gave our army time to grow stronger. Imagine if a full-scale invasion of this magnitude had occurred in 2014? We would have lost our statehood. Although in the summer of 2014, regular units of the Russian army entered Ukrainian territory. The Minsk agreements stopped the major war then,” Gerashchenko said.

“The goal of Zelenskyy’s government team and his negotiating team is, first and foremost, to preserve the Ukrainian state. Secondly, we need to reach a document that will enshrine respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty within its universally recognized borders. How will we proceed with the de-occupation of certain territories? This is a matter of tactics. But the key is to preserve statehood,” Iryna Gerashchenko asserts.