François Hollande talks with a Kyiv Independent contributor in Paris, France, on Dec. 16, 2022. (Théo Prouvost)
TASS: Hollande confirms Merkel’s remark Minsk agreements let Kiev build up military muscle
While commenting on the prospects for negotiations in the current conflict, France’s former president said that "for a dialogue to be fruitful, it must be based on a balance of power"
PARIS, December 30. /TASS/. France’s former president, Francois Hollande, who participated in attempts to settle the conflict in Donbass and in shaping the Minsk agreements in 2015 has confirmed the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s statement to the effect the agreements were needed for the sole purpose of letting Kiev gain time and build up military muscle for another conflict.
"Yes, Angela Merkel is right on this point," he told the Kiev Independent media outlet, while commenting on Merkel’s remark that the Minsk agreements allowed Kiev to gain time, but by no means prevented further hostilities in the Donbass.
"Since 2014, Ukraine has strengthened its military posture. Indeed, the Ukrainian army was completely different from that of 2014. It was better trained and equipped. It is the merit of the Minsk agreements to have given the Ukrainian army this opportunity."
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WNU Editor: Here is the interview with the Kyiv Independent where former French President Hollande admits that the Minsk agreement gave time for Ukraine to build-up its military forces .... Hollande: ‘There will only be a way out of the conflict when Russia fails on the ground’ (Kyiv Independent).
Wow! Was I ever fooled.
I believed that the Minsk agreements were a genuine and sincere effort from the West to find a resolution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and I gave it my full support in this blog and with all of my friends and contacts in Russia, Ukraine, and elsewhere.
I was wrong.
With former German Chancellor Merkel, former Ukraine President Poroshenko, and now former French President Hollande all admitting that the Minsk agreements were just an excuse to buy time to build-up Ukraine's military forces to continue the war and pursue a military defeat of the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine .... sighhhh .... this all but destroys any chance that Moscow will agree to any proposal from the West to end the war in Ukraine.
What can I now say. This war and the incredible destruction and death it is causing could have all been avoided if these "leaders" were sincere in following up on implementing the agreements that they made in Minsk.
Update: Could not have said it any better .... Confessions by Hollande and Merkel are ‘formalization of betrayal’ – top Russian senator (RT).