On February 12, 2015, after more than 12 hours negotiations in the “Norman format” in Minsk, Belarus, the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine signed a joint declaration.
The document was signed also by the representatives of The Tripartite Contact Group.
The President of Ukraine stated that there are no agreements on any autonomy or federalization.
“It was not easy, and we were virtually posed with all kinds of unacceptable conditions, retreat, surrender. We did not yield to any ultimatums and clearly expressed the position that the cease-fire should take place without any preconditions,” Poroshenko underlined.
However there are a lot of points in the agreement that support the terrorists:
11. Constitutional reform aimed at decentralization and provision of special status to specific areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
4. Dialogue on holding local elections.
12. Local elections to be discussed and agreed with representatives of specific areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
13. Intensification of the Tripartite Contact Group activities.
According to the document, there also must be provided amnesty regarding “the events that took place in specific areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions”, created the conditions for delivery of humanitarian aid and determinated modalities of restoring economic contacts.
The Tripartite Contact Group agreed to a cease-fire starting 12:00 (GMT+3) on February 15 and on withdrawal of all foreign troops from the territory of Ukraine and heavy armament 50-140 km away from the contact line. The Ukrainian government will restore the full control over the border. Hostages must be released within 19 days in a format “all-for-all”.
Cease-fire must be under the monitoring by OSCE and additionally Petro Poroshenko announced that:
“Chiefs of Joint Staffs of Ukraine and Russia will hold talks on Friday regarding the monitoring of the cease-fire in the Donbas,” he said.
