Disinfo: Russia not bound by Minsk deals, only Ukraine and DNR/LNR are warring sides

Summary

Russia has no obligations under the Minsk agreements because it is not a party to them. The Package of Measures is binding only for Kyiv on the one hand and Donetsk and Luhansk on the other hand.

Disproof

This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets claiming that Russia is a mediator in Eastern Ukraine along with France, Germany and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), while Ukraine and the separatists are the only warring sides.

In reality, it is an established fact that Russia is a party to the Donbas conflict. Ukrainian troops have seized several Russian active-duty soldiers in Donbas since the war broke out in 2014. Russia has been supplying the separatists with weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2015 acknowledged Russian military presence in Donbas, adding that they were not servicemen. However, he admitted Moscow’s military involvement in Eastern Ukraine. Separatist leaders themselves admit that there are a lot of Russian servicemen in Donbas, who fight there while on vacation from duty in Russia. Although these people may be on vacation, it does not deny the fact that Russian soldiers and officers do serve in Donbas.

All Minsk agreements, signed by representatives of the OSCE, Ukraine, Russia and leaders of the illegal separatist entities, call for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Ukraine. The Protocol on the results of consultations of the Trilateral Contact Group, signed in Minsk on 5 September 2014, obliged the warring sides to “Remove unlawful military formations and military hardware, as well as militants and mercenaries, from the territory of Ukraine.”

The Memorandum on the implementation of the Protocol, signed in Minsk on 19 September 2014, reads: “All foreign military formations and military equipment, as well as militants and mercenaries, are to exit the territory of Ukraine under OSCE monitoring.”

The Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements, signed there on 12 February 2015, contains the following provision: “Withdrawal of all foreign armed formations, military equipment, as well as mercenaries from the territory of Ukraine under monitoring of the OSCE. Disarmament of all illegal groups.”

All these provisions are applicable to Russia as well, whose servicemen are fighting in Donbas, no matter whether they are active-duty servicemen or self-styled holiday-makers.

Asked by a Ukrainian journalist in 2020 about whether Russia is a party to the Donbas conflict, former Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group Martin Sajdik said: "Russia, Ukraine, and the OSCE are members of the Trilateral Contact Group. This group was set up to find a solution to the Donbas conflict through the implementation of the Minsk agreements. Obviously, the OSCE is not a party to the conflict, it’s only a mediator. Then it’s easy to answer a question about the parties to the conflict."

All these facts prove that Russia is a party to the conflict in Donbas, and is, consequently, bound by the Minsk agreements.

Read more disinformation cases claiming that Ukraine is violating the Minsk agreements while Russia is not a party to the Donbas conflict.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 258
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 06/09/2021
  • Article language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia, Germany, France
  • Keywords: Minsk agreements, War in Ukraine, OSCE, DNR, LNR, Eastern Ukraine
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Disinfo: The Biden-Zelenskyy summit proves Ukraine has become a US colony

When they say that the US is supporting future steps in certain sectors, this involves agriculture, climate and energy. That is, the one paying will have access to lands, energy production, railways and port infrastructure. This is an undeniable proof that Ukraine has become an American colony.

Disproof

This is a recurring disinformation narrative widely promoted by pro-Kremlin outlets to make allegations of ”foreign control” of Ukraine. The narrative is aimed at undermining Ukraine's sovereignty and struggle for territorial integrity, as well as at discrediting international support in the wake of still ongoing acts of Russian aggression in the country's Donbas region and the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.

The disinformation claim above refers to a recent high-level summit between US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The summit has resulted in broadening strategic cooperation between the two countries in a number of areas, including the economy, military, and climate among others. In sharp contrast to the disinformation claim, active economic cooperation with a foreign country does not result in becoming a colony.

Disinfo: Global elites overthrew Donald Trump

The US does not exist as a national state which defends the interests of citizens. This was shown by the overthrow of Donald Trump. The US has become a hostage of its own global elites.

Disproof

This disinformation claim combines a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about secret global elites with the narrative about the stolen 2020 US presidential election from former President Donald Trump. The narrative is now being repeated in the context of the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan.

Donald Trump was defeated by Joe Biden in a legitimate and valid election: the 2020 presidential election, which has been indisputably proven to be the most secure democratic election in history, well managed and legitimate, as determined by the US Supreme Court. See here more about OSCE election observations in the US.

Disinfo: Western leaders vowed NATO would not expand eastwards

What has not been put on paper, history quickly reduces to zero - just like the promise made by then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to then-Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO will not be expanding to the East.

Disproof

This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets alleging that the West deceived the former Soviet Union and subsequently Russia by breaking its promise not to expand NATO to the East.

In reality, these claims are unsubstantiated because there is no trustworthy evidence that any Western leader ever gave assurances to former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev about NATO’s pledge not to admit new members. There is no recorded or otherwise documented commitment to this effect. Gorbachev himself denied this claim in an interview in 2014: