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Minsk agreements failure led to Ukraine war: Kremlin spokesman

Sunday, 11 December 2022 6:43 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 11 December 2022 6:53 PM ]

A Ukrainian soldier from the 68th brigade fires a mortar launcher at a position along the front line in Donetsk region on December 9, 2022. (File photo by AFP)

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russia's concerns about the failure of the Minsk agreements drove it to launch a special military operation in Ukraine.

Peskov was speaking in an interview with Russian television channel Rossiya-1 on Sunday when asked whether Moscow understood that it was deceived regarding Minsk-2.

"Of course, it became obvious as time passed. And again, President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin and other our representatives were constantly stating it," he said.

"But all this was ignored by other participants of the negotiations process. This all foreran the special military operation [in Ukraine]," Peskov added.

He emphasized that Kiev had ignored the peace accords with pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine.

Putin: West's desire for dominance risks triggering more conflicts

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the West’s desire to maintain its hegemony on the world stage is increasing the risks of conflict, slamming the US and its allies for using Ukraine as "cannon fodder".

On Friday, the Russian president also deplored the failure to implement the terms of the Minsk deals, aimed at ending the war in the eastern Donbas region.

Earlier this week, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the agreement had been an attempt to give Ukraine time to become stronger against Russia.

The peace deals, signed in 2014 and 2015, were brokered by Russia, France and Germany.

Both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks, with each side blaming the other for targeting infrastructure.

Russia started its military operation in Ukraine on February 24 following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk.

At the time, Putin said the objective of the operation was to "de-Nazify" pro-Moscow regions in eastern Ukraine.

Since the onset of the war, the United States and its European allies have sent numerous batches of advanced weapons to Kiev, while imposing an array of sanctions against Moscow.

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