Russia still interested in Minsk Accords talks, Peskov says

The murder of
Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-declared Donetsk People’s
Republic, doesn’t mean Russia will abandon the Minsk Accords negotiations with
Ukraine, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Sept.
3, as reported by the TASS news agency. “President Putin is doing everything to
move the Minsk process from its dead status,” he said.

Peskov repeated
Kremlin narratives that Zakharchenko’s murder was a terrorist act by the
Ukrainian government, which is also interfering with the fulfillment of the
Minsk Accords. He denied that Russia was engaged in negotiations over Donbas
without genuine intentions. “Any negotiations are conducted to achieve a result
and conducting talks for the sake of the process is not a wise undertaking,” he
said. Putin also supports renewing the Normandy Four talks, he said.

The French Foreign
Ministry expressed a similar position the same day. “Recent events in eastern
Ukraine hardly place under doubt the requirements of the sides of the Minsk
Accords, as well as the relevance of Normandy Four meetings between Germany,
France, Russia and Ukraine,” the statement said. “The very possibility that
tensions may emerge makes it necessary to hold talks in good faith.”

Zenon Zawada: We don’t believe Zakharchenko’s
murder had any relation to the Minsk Accords. However, the Kremlin may very
well use the killing as a pretext to delay negotiations or demand higher
concessions from its counterparts during the talks.

When Peskov said the Kremlin wasn’t engaged in negotiations “for the
sake of the process,” it’s not clear whether he was responding to a reporter’s
question or merely projecting his thoughts. We are confident that the Kremlin
has often used Minsk-related negotiations for reasons other than fulfilling
them. These ulterior motives include dragging out the aggression campaign in
Ukraine, launching disinformation campaigns and testing out their Western and
Ukrainian counterparts for what they’re willing to concede.