Donetsk, Dec 29 – DAN. Ukraine might begin fulfilling the Minsk agreements in 2017, DPR Head Alexander Zakharchenko said in an interview to Donetsk News Agency.
“I believe that phased implementation of the Minsk agreements in line with the road map approved by the Normandy Four and coordinated with us might begin as early as 2017,” Zakharchenko said.
Ukraine has been hindering the process because political agreement implementation would imply Kiev regime crash. The situation might change due to Ukraine’s worsening economic and political crisis, Normandy Four pressure and possible U.S. foreign policy shift, the DPR leader said.
“There can be no 100 percent guarantee: Kiev authorities are like a monkey with a grenade; you don’t know what’s on their minds, where the grenade will fly or when it explodes in their hands which is more likely. However, there are some signs of positive solution,” Zakharchenko added.
Moscow, Paris and Berlin repeatedly said that there was not alternative to the Minsk format of Donbass settlement talks. The Contact Group’s first consultations in 2017 are scheduled for 16 January. *jk