What to expect for Donbass after the talks between Putin and Zelensky – a statement in the TCG

Direct negotiations between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin will mean that Kiev got Moscow to recognize itself as a party to the conflict.

This opinion was expressed by the representative of the Ukrainian delegation in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on Donbass Issues Sergey Garmash on the Today Day program on the Ukraine 24 TV channel.

Final goal

“I believe that if Zelensky goes to such negotiations, he will not be alone. In this case, he will enlist the support of the United States, Germany, France, Great Britain, Canada, so to speak. He will not represent the position of just Ukraine, it will be the position of those who support us today. This is the first thing. Second. If such negotiations take place, then this will automatically mean that Russia has recognized itself as a party to the conflict, and this will be a huge diplomatic victory and the beginning of the settlement of the conflict.“, – said Garmash.

The representative of Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group noted that no individual agreements after such a meeting will enter into force without the corresponding approval of the Verkhovna Rada and without the signatures of the TCG members.

“Whatever Zelensky and Putin agree on, he will remember that he will return to Kiev, and he needs to implement, implement these agreements. And they can only be formalized in the form of laws, in the form of some acts. Laws are adopted by us. Verkhovna Rada, not Zelensky. In the TCG, Zelensky will not sign documents, but concrete people. Either it will be Andrei Kostin, who today is acting head of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG, or Kravchuk (Leonid Kravchuk, head of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG – ed.) And they understand that they have to live in this country, and they have their own political responsibility, a historical role. They are unlikely to want to put their signature under any “treacherous” agreements of Zelensky. Therefore, I see nothing terrible if such a dialogue will actually take place directly“, – said Garmash.

Situation

• We will remind, during the annual message to the Verkhovna Rada, Vladimir Zelensky said that he was not afraid of direct negotiations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and was ready to discuss with him the end of the war.
• The Ukrainian leader said that he was counting on the return of the occupied Crimea. Press secretary of Vladimir Putin Dmitry Peskov in response to this said that such rhetoric of Kiev does not bring direct negotiations between the two countries.
• As we already wrote, Zelensky voiced his expectations from the meeting with Putin. The head of state also answered the question of what he was thinking about the owner of the Kremlin right now.