DISINFO: Ukraine broke the Minsk agreements by allowing the National Police on the contact line
SUMMARY
Ukraine knows that it can’t allow the National Police to be on the line of contact [in Donbas]. It violates the agreements. And Ukraine broke the agreement before the Normandy Format meeting.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Minsk agreements, portraying Ukraine as the only violator of the agreements. See previous cases about the Minsk agreements and the war in Ukraine. On 20 September 2016, the Framework Decision of Tripartite Contact Group on the Withdrawal of Forces was signed. The document listed violations such as the movement of forces and means on the contact line, shelling or placing mines on the contact line, etc. However, there is no mention of the use of the National Police for controlling order there. Ukrainian Defence Minister Andrii Zagorodniuk said in October 2019 that the condition of the withdrawal of forces and means is the fulfilment of the condition of observing the ceasefire regime at both sections of the contact line and the verification of the absence of fire should be carried out by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. He also stated that the National Police will protect civilians on the contact line.