Georgian FM Comments on Minsk Agreement on Ukraine
Georgia’s Foreign Minister, Tamar Beruchashvili, welcomed the Minsk agreement agreed by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, and said now it is important Moscow to “fully implement” the deal, but added, recalling 2008 ceasefire agreement, that Georgia has a “very negative experience” in this regard.
“We were watching closely very difficult negotiations in Minsk and were looking forward to its results, which should have put an end to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” she said on February 13 at a joint news conference in Tbilisi with visiting Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu.
“We welcome the result and express hope that this process will be irreversible. We hope that, unlike the 2008 six-point ceasefire agreement [with Georgia], Russia will fulfill all the commitments under this [Minsk] agreement and will respect fully fundamental norms and principles of the international law. I want to reiterate our support towards Ukraine, its sovereignty and territorial integrity in its internationally recognized borders,” Beruchashvili said.
“Now it is very important Russia to start full implementation of this agreement. Regrettably, Georgia has a very negative experience in this regard and we call once again on our European partners not to look at developments in Ukraine as an isolated process, but as part of a bigger picture of Russia’s aggressive policy in the region, which is directly related to ‘spheres of influence’ in Russia’s neighborhood. We hope that international community, and especially our European partners, will pay more attention to this issue and will fully take into consideration those challenges and threats that we are now facing,” the Georgian Foreign Minister said.
Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, said that the Minsk agreement “will be a step forward in the resolution of the crisis only if it is strictly implemented.”
“We have to see whether it is implemented, whether the ceasefire is respected, we have to see whether the heavy weapons are withdrawn as it is agreed upon in the document and then we will be able to assess whether this is a step forward in the resolution of the crisis or not,” he added. “We do not want to see another frozen or protracted conflict in our neighborhood.”