The decision to withdraw the troops of the Russian Federation from Donbass, the eastern area of Ukraine, has already been taken and will have to go into effect. This was stated by the Deputy Minister for the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Juri Hrijmcha, to the broadcaster “5 Channel”, commenting on the results of the meeting between the United States Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker and the adviser to the Russian President Vladislav Surkov. “I think the decision on Donbass has already been taken: they will have to withdraw. The only thing we will discuss today is how they will withdraw and on what terms, ”Hrymchak said. Given the scarcity of comments made so far, only after Volker's arrival in Kiev will it be possible to understand the progress of the meeting. Surkov, however, expressed a
positive opinion on his meeting with the US special representative. According to the Russian presidential adviser, the
meeting was "useful and constructive". “We agree that the current situation in southeastern Ukraine
it cannot be considered satisfactory by both sides in the conflict and by external forces that are mediating a solution. The discussion was mutually respectful, interested, honest and serious, without allusions and prejudices. The commitment to respect the Minsk agreements has not been questioned: both sides have suggested new ideas and innovative approaches for their implementation, ”said Surkov. Furthermore, according to the Russian presidential adviser, "constant joint work has been agreed, the topics for the next meeting have been established, and it has been agreed that the stabilization process at both the political and security levels can and must go faster. Russian presidential adviser Vladislav Surkov and Kurt Volker, US special representative for Ukraine met yesterday behind closed doors in Minsk. The official results of the meeting have not yet been notified, but Volker will discuss them today in Vilnius, where the envoy will have talks on the conflict in Ukraine with the Lithuanian government. For some time there has been talk of a possible involvement of the United States in the so-called Normandy Format (France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine) which, thanks also to the work of Belarus, had led to the signing of the Minsk agreements. All the eastern area of Ukraine
has experienced a situation of profound instability and uncertainty since April 2014, after the authorities in Kiev launched a military operation to regain control of the region from the militias of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk who support the independence of Donbass. The agreements reached in Minsk provide for a complete ceasefire; the withdrawal of arms from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine; the mutual exchange of all prisoners held on both sides; constitutional reforms that confer a special status on the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Since the signing of the agreements, however, the two sides accuse each other of opposing the implementation of the conflict in Ukraine with the Lithuanian government.