{"id":131421,"date":"2020-12-12T13:33:04","date_gmt":"2020-12-12T11:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/?p=131421"},"modified":"2020-12-12T13:33:09","modified_gmt":"2020-12-12T11:33:09","slug":"year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments","title":{"rendered":"A year after the Normandy Summit in Paris: what are the accomplishments?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On December 9, 2019, heads of the Normandy Four states \u2013 Ukraine, Germany,\nFrance, and Russia met for a summit in Paris. A year after the summit, Ukraine\nCrisis Media Center (UCMC) initiated and held a public discussion on the\nprogress toward implementing the agreements made to achieve peace in Donbas.\nThe discussion was hosted at the press center of Ukraine Crisis Media Center on\nDecember 11, 2020. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the international legal status of the Minsk agreements? What are\nthe accomplishments of Ukraine and its partners in implementing the agreements?\nWhat has Russia achieved in the past year? What is Ukraine\u2019s vision of\nde-occupation and reintegration? What are the pre-conditions for holding\nelections in the temporarily occupied territory? Why should a peacekeeping\nmission be deployed to Ukraine\u2019s state border with Russia as well as the\ntemporarily occupied territory? What would its mandate be? These are some of\nthe questions that the discussion put a spotlight on.    <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants\nof the talk included representatives of the parliamentary factions and the\nUkrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group on peaceful settlement in\nDonbas. The event was moderated by Valeriy Chaly, Chair of the Board at Ukraine\nCrisis Media Center, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve picked the discussion highlights, read on.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kremlin\nholds the key to ending aggression and building peace <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\nUkrainian society and politicians it is obvious that the major reason why there\nhas been no progress on implementation of the agreements is the position of\nRussia and its aggression against Ukraine, currently in its seventh year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening\nthe discussion, Valeriy Chaly<\/strong>, Chair\nof the Board at Ukraine Crisis Media Center, Ambassador Extraordinary and\nPlenipotentiary of Ukraine highlighted the point:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\nnegotiation process lasts long and needs to be approached with serious\nanalytics. I hope that by the end of the discussion we will shape a\nconsolidated position of Ukraine. We can discuss accomplishments made\nthroughout the year after the Paris summit, what Ukraine did and didn\u2019t do. But\nwe all understand that the major reason why the Minsk agreements were not\nimplemented is the position of Russia.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze<\/strong>, MP (\u201cEuropean Solidarity\u201d, Yevropeiska Solidarnist<\/em> faction), Chair of the Parliamentary\nCommittee on Integration of Ukraine with the EU noted that Russia does not live\nup to its commitments and curbs the peace process:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA year and a half ago, Ukrainian society believed\nin the myth that the Ukrainian government benefits from the war. I hope that a\nyear after the summit, it is clear to the leadership of Ukraine that Moscow\nkeeps holding the key to the peace. The Russian Federation has no interest in\nreturning the occupied territories to Ukraine in accordance with international\nlaw. The interest of the Russian Federation is to have full control of Ukraine\nby causing chaos or through direct rule.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivanna\nKlympush-Tsintsadze<\/strong> added that Russia\nuses Ukraine as a platform in try to be back in the \u201cbig game\u201d. Through its\naggression in Ukraine and Syria, the Russian Federation attempts to increase\nits visibility in the international arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oleksiy Arestovych<\/strong>, recently appointed spokesperson for the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group, advisor to the chief of the Office of the President of Ukraine agreed that Russia\u2019s position is the major reason why the agreements made in Paris were not implemented. He said representatives of the Russian Federation are consistently pushing two major narratives. Firstly, they attempt to disregard all the agreements signed since the summer of 2014. At the same time, they are being selective and insist on implementation of the accords signed in February 2015 that the UN cemented, as they say. Secondly, Russia tries to impose on Ukraine a direct dialogue with the terrorist organizations operating in the occupied territory of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Valeriy Chaly<\/strong> commented on Russia\u2019s first narrative mentioned by Oleksiy Arestovych. \u201cThe Russian side says that the UN cemented the Minsk agreements into international law, but that is not true. They made such an attempt. From the legal standpoint, it\u2019s impossible. In the UN document, you will not find a confirmation that the Minsk agreements are subject to international law. That\u2019s manipulation,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andriy Kostin<\/strong>, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs (\u201cServant of the People\u201d, Sluha Narodu<\/em> faction), representative of Ukraine to the political taskforce within the Trilateral Contact Group in Donbas reacted to the second narrative \u2013 the Russian Federation pushing for a direct dialogue between Ukraine and representatives of the occupation administrations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a clear-cut position. We keep repeating\nthat the Trilateral Contact Group comprises Ukraine and Russia, and is\nmoderated by the OSCE. When Russia attempts to present itself as a moderator or\nintermediary, it makes no sense. The conflict is between the Russian Federation\nand Ukraine. Participants from unrecognized territories can have no\nrecognition. We say to the representatives of the Russian Federation: \u2018You don\u2019t\nrecognize the sovereignty of these territories either, why are we wasting time (on\nsuggestions) to dialogue with them?\u2019\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year after\nthe Paris summit: major accomplishments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oleksiy Arestovych<\/strong>, spokesperson for the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral\nContact Group said the progress in the conflict settlement in eastern Ukraine advanced\nslowly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur\ndelegation reports of a very slow advance. There is progress in operation of\nthe crossing points (on the contact line \u2013 edit.). Unfortunately, the progress\nis very slow, the same goes for the liberation of prisoners. Still, the\nNormandy format is active and brings results,\u201d Arestovych explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said\nthe Paris agreements are implemented only in part, while the biggest\naccomplishment is the ceasefire that is relatively holding since July 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other\naccomplishments named by the discussion participants include new control points\non the contact line, demining efforts and disengagement of the troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFull\nceasefire, opening of the two new control points on the contact line, agreed\ndemining and disengagement sites demonstrate that Ukraine is ready to implement\nthe commitments it agreed with the international partners. The fact that Russia\ndoes not want to implement any is a marker for the international community and\na reason to keep the sanctions,\u201d Andriy\nKostin<\/strong> said. \u201cWe are glad that the sanctions continue and our partners \u2013\nFrance and Germany have a detailed understanding of what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engaging\ninternally displaced persons from Donbas into the negotiations within the\nTrilateral Contact Group is an accomplishment achieved in the past year, said Iryna Herashchenko<\/strong>, MP, member of the Parliamentary\nCommittee on Foreign Policy and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, discussion participants\nhighlighted a shift towards a more proactive stance that the Ukrainian delegation\nhas taken in the Trilateral Contact Group. Serhiy\nRakhmanin<\/strong>, MP (\u201cGolos\u201d, Voice<\/em>\nfaction), chair of the temporary parliamentary commission on the public policy for\nrestoring territorial integrity and ensuring sovereignty of Ukraine said: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Ukrainian delegation attempted to be\nproactive and set its own agenda. It made an attempt to elaborate a number of\nissues by setting up working groups to project the return of the territories to\nthe Ukrainian government, dissolution of the occupation administrations,\nwithdrawal of the troops, prospects of vehicle registration plates issued in\nthe occupied territory. As a result, we can be clearer in communicating our\nposition to our international partners and gradually leave the Minsk process.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year after\nthe Paris summit: major challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside\nthe slow progress, the discussion participants emphasized a number of\nchallenges in the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\nbegin with, the positive developments need to coincide with strategic goals in\nthe interests of Ukraine, instead of being ad hoc, tactical response to Russia\u2019s\nblackmail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUkraine\nhas approved three more disengagement sites. The military insisted on disengagement\nin places that are not critical for Ukraine. Disengagement itself is a negative\nfact having no result for local residents. Disengagement would make sense and\nhave its logic if there was, say, a mid-term goal to create a safety zone or\ndeploy a peacekeeping contingent. There needs to be a full ceasefire. Russians\nare now blackmailing us with ceasefire conditions,\u201d explained Serhiy Rakhmanin<\/strong>. \u201cAgreements are not\nto be made to get the green light for the next summit. As for the prisoners,\nRussians are simply blackmailing us. Some of the prisoners were important for\nthem to swap \u2013 Berkut policemen, MH17 witnesses etc.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MP highlighted divergence and chaotic release of official statements and stances that deteriorated Ukraine\u2019s image abroad. Particularly, \u201ccomments made by Leonid Kravchuk (head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group since autumn 2020 \u2013 edit.) on some arguments are often his private thoughts that do not coincide with the delegation\u2019s official position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze <\/strong>added, noting that the fact that the Ukrainian\ngovernment has no clear communication line has a negative effect on the support\nprovided by the international partners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur international partners do not always understand us. Ukraine\nstopped clearly communicating its goals, tasks, principles, and security interests.\nAs the discussion shifted from the political Normandy format to the technical format\nof Minsk, Ukraine is becoming more incomprehensible to our partners. Today, the\nclarity of Ukraine\u2019s position is lost,\u201d the MP said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iryna Herashchenko<\/strong> also listed a number of\nnegative developments that happened in the past year: \u201cCeasefire is being\nviolated. Liberation of the prisoners is being blocked, it is sometimes unclear\nwho the Ukrainian side is fighting for \u2013 what their names and families are, and\nwhat they did. Making it public can save their lives and improve their health\ncondition, protect them. The promise to provide access to prisons in the\noccupied territory to the Red Cross was never implemented,\u201d the MP said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herashchenko also emphasized\nthat the Foreign Affairs Ministry was actually excluded from the Normandy\nformat, while the discussion on the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces was\nhalted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wrapping up the discussion, the participants agreed that the major curb on the way towards conflict settlement comes from Russia, while Ukraine is living up to its international commitments. It though needs a more consolidated position and a common strategic vision internally. A clear-cut position of Ukraine can reinforce and consolidate the international support to its fight against the Russian aggression. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On December 9, 2019, heads of the Normandy Four states \u2013 Ukraine, Germany, France, and Russia met for a summit in Paris. A year after the summit, Ukraine Crisis Media Center (UCMC) initiated and held a public discussion on the progress toward implementing the agreements made to achieve peace in Donbas. The discussion was hosted […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":131387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[611],"tags":[7024],"section":[743,743],"form":[],"yoast_head":"\nA year after the Normandy Summit in Paris: what are the accomplishments? | UACRISIS.ORG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On December 9, 2019, heads of the Normandy Four states \u2013 Ukraine, Germany, France, and Russia met for a summit in Paris. A year after the summit, Ukraine | Uacrisis.org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A year after the Normandy Summit in Paris: what are the accomplishments? | UACRISIS.ORG\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On December 9, 2019, heads of the Normandy Four states \u2013 Ukraine, Germany, France, and Russia met for a summit in Paris. A year after the summit, Ukraine | Uacrisis.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uacrisis.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uacrisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-12T11:33:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-12T11:33:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/50704890353_a2f45bde5e_c.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"534\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uacrisis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uacrisis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Yulia Volfovska\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A year after the Normandy Summit in Paris: what are the accomplishments? | UACRISIS.ORG","description":"On December 9, 2019, heads of the Normandy Four states \u2013 Ukraine, Germany, France, and Russia met for a summit in Paris. A year after the summit, Ukraine | Uacrisis.org","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A year after the Normandy Summit in Paris: what are the accomplishments? | UACRISIS.ORG","og_description":"On December 9, 2019, heads of the Normandy Four states \u2013 Ukraine, Germany, France, and Russia met for a summit in Paris. A year after the summit, Ukraine | Uacrisis.org","og_url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments","og_site_name":"Uacrisis.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uacrisis\/","article_published_time":"2020-12-12T11:33:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-12T11:33:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":534,"url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/50704890353_a2f45bde5e_c.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@uacrisis","twitter_site":"@uacrisis","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Yulia Volfovska","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#organization","name":"Ukraine crisis media center","url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uacrisis\/","http:\/\/youtube.com\/UACrisisMediaCenter","https:\/\/twitter.com\/uacrisis"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#logo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/header_logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/header_logo-1.png","width":250,"height":90,"caption":"Ukraine crisis media center"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#logo"}},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/","name":"Uacrisis.org","description":"Ukraine crisis media center","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/50704890353_a2f45bde5e_c.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/50704890353_a2f45bde5e_c.jpg","width":800,"height":534},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments#webpage","url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments","name":"A year after the Normandy Summit in Paris: what are the accomplishments? | UACRISIS.ORG","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2020-12-12T11:33:04+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-12T11:33:09+00:00","description":"On December 9, 2019, heads of the Normandy Four states \u2013 Ukraine, Germany, France, and Russia met for a summit in Paris. A year after the summit, Ukraine | Uacrisis.org","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0430","item":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A year after the Normandy Summit in Paris: what are the accomplishments?"}]},{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments#webpage"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/cf3cce0bb868db713634fc0129de6fad"},"headline":"A year after the Normandy Summit in Paris: what are the accomplishments?","datePublished":"2020-12-12T11:33:04+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-12T11:33:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments#webpage"},"wordCount":1683,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/year-after-normandy-summit-accomplishments#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/50704890353_a2f45bde5e_c.jpg","keywords":["Normandy Summit"],"articleSection":["Security"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/cf3cce0bb868db713634fc0129de6fad","name":"Yulia Volfovska"}]}},"wps_subtitle":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131421"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131421"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=131421"},{"taxonomy":"form","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/form?post=131421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}