The whole game that Russia is leading is based on denying the obvious — its participation in the war with Ukraine and impossibility to prove that it has been taking part in the military conflict.

On March 6 a meeting of the “Normandy Four” took place in Berlin. The parties discussed observation of the Minsk negotiations signed on February 12, 2015 and social and economical conditions in the conflict zone.

The results of the regular meeting of the “Normandy Four” and the prospects of peaceful settlement of the Conflict in Donbas EuroBelarus Information Service discussed with Uladzimir Matskevich, the head of the Board of the International Consortium “EuroBelarus “.

— The “Normandy Four” encouraged the possibility of letting OSCE reach the armory removed from line of demarcation at the east of Ukraine. What is the benefit of it?

— The participation of OSCE observers is provided for by the former Minsk agreements. However, due to Russia’s unwillingness to make situation in Donbas transparent the “Normandy Four” has to go back to this problem again and again.

The whole game that Russia is leading is built on the denial of the obvious — participation in the war with Ukraine and impossibility to testify its participation in the military conflict.

— On March 6 Foreign Ministers of Russia and Germany — Sergey Lavrov and Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke in favor of the extension of mandate of the OSCE observer mission in Ukraine and increase its number to 1000 participants. How effective are the actions of the OSCE mission in the zone of the conflict if the observers are not even permitted to control the progress of the Minsk negotiations?

— The efficiency of the OSCE observer missions has been criticized for many years. The organization itself is under strong Russian influence, what can explain criticism of its inefficiency.

It will be good if the OSCE observer mission is completed by observers from other international structures. Of course, there is no saying that these should be NATO observers, as the organization is believed to be military and non-neutral. However, UN peacemakers can handle these functions pretty well.

— But Russia is against introducing peacemakers, although it is allegedly interested in resolution of military conflict in Ukraine.

— Russia is categorically against introducing peacemakers. That is why we should ask ourselves whether Russia’s opinion should be considered when such problems are being solved. But to do that, the UN, the OSCE, and the EU have to admit that Russia is a party in the war. International community doesn’t have enough decisiveness for that, and Russia will do everything to inhibit such scenario both at diplomatic level and in the format of the “Normandy Four”.

However, it is impossible to bring peace to Donbas without declaring Russia a belligerent.

— Are the UN peacemakers or the EU police mission the force that is able to avert the development of the Russian aggression at the least?

— For now it doesn’t look like Putin will stop his expansionist plans. That is why any peaceful negotiations, including those in the Normandy format, should be considered to be a positive process that leads to cessation of military actions in Donbas, even though slowly. There is hope for cessation of military actions in Donbas, even though little.

Putin has a lot of unrealized possibilities, such as attacks, as it happened recently in Kharkov or last May in Odessa. It is very hard to connect Russia and terrorism. And mechanism of attacks is beyond the bounds of military actions, so we should be really apprehensive about the attacks.

— The “Normandy Four” in Berlin was discussing secondary questions and didn’t touch upon “sanctions, control over border, as these issues are invented artificially”, stated Grigory Karasin, who represented Russia. Does it mean that Russia will not tolerate establishment of control over border?

— The “Normandy Four” has a limited mandate and authority. The “Normandy Four” cannot lead negotiations on behalf of the whole European Union. And the question of sanctions is above the borders of the “Normandy Four” responsibilities.

The task of the “Normandy Four” is to stop military escalation; however, it has difficulties coping even with this issue. At the meeting in Berlin the “Normandy Four” discussed technical details of realization of Minsk agreements. Such coordination is to be included in the process of peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas. However, the “Normandy Four” makes it inconsistently, leaving many opportunities for Russia to intensify the conflict — there is every trace that Russia is ready to do it. Even removal of armory that was specified in Minsk negotiations doesn’t prevent Russia from enhancing its military presence outside the zone stipulated by the Minsk agreements.

— The “Normandy Four” took place at the level of Vice Foreign Ministers of Germany, France, Ukraine, and Russia. The parties don’t plan to enhance the level of the meeting. Don’t you find that the Normandy format repeats the fate of the Minsk negotiations and changes into a political ritual?

— There is such danger, but I wouldn’t put the question this way. The coordination of technical details of Minsk negotiations is an integral part of the peaceful process. The only complaint to the “Normandy Four” is that that is happening very slowly and inconsistently.

The questions of larger scale should be resolved at a different level and without Russia’s participation. Of course, it is hard to reach ceasefire of the military conflict in Donbas without Russia; whereas all decisions about sanctions, studying, armament of the Ukrainian army should and will be taken without Russia’s participation. However, Russia is an interested party and will be trying to prevent it in every possible way.