Zelensky: Minutes signed in Minsk don’t legitimize certain areas of Donetsk, Luhansk regions

Zelensky: Minutes signed in Minsk don’t legitimize certain areas of Donetsk, Luhansk regions

Ukrinform
The minutes, signed upon the Trilateral Contact Group meeting in Minsk on March 11, 2020, are a working paper that is declarative in nature and does not foresee legal consequences, including the legitimization of the agency of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky made a corresponding statement in his response to the electronic petition No.22/088960-ep demanding the immediate withdrawal of the signatures of the representative of Ukraine and the approval of the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine under the minutes of the Trilateral Contact Group meeting held in Minsk on March 11, 2020.

"A working paper – meeting minutes – was signed upon the TCG meeting in Minsk on March 11, 2020. It is declarative in nature and does not provide for legal consequences (commencement of obligations of the parties), including the legitimization of the agency of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The minutes are not an international treaty as defined in Article 2 of the Law of Ukraine "On International Treaties of Ukraine", therefore authorization by the President of Ukraine to sign/decide to withdraw signatures under a working paper of the TCG meeting in Minsk on March 11, 2020 is not regulated by law," Zelensky explains.

He noted that the composition of the TCG was clearly defined in the preamble to the minutes upon the consultations of the Trilateral Contact Group on joint steps aimed at implementing the peace plan of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and the initiatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin of September 5, 2014, and the memorandum on the implementation of the minutes upon the consultations of the Trilateral Contact Group on steps to implement the Peace Plan of the presidents of Ukraine and Russia of September 19, 2014.

"The invitees from temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine may be involved in discussions within the TCG and in its working subgroups, including any consultative mechanisms, exclusively with consent reached in the trilateral format – between Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE," the Head of State emphasized.

It is envisaged that the Consultative Council should become a technical tool with advisory functions within the TCG political subgroup to discuss the issues with the participation of Ukrainian citizens – both IDPs and Ukrainians residing in the temporarily occupied territories.

As a reminder, at the meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on the peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas on March 11, attended by Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak, an agreement was reached on the establishment of the Consultative Council within the TCG political subgroup after the consultations with the representatives of the OSCE, France, and Germany on the implementation of the agreements reached during the Normandy format summit.

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