IPFS News Link • France
Former President of France Admits: Minsk Agreements Were to DECEIVE Russia;
• https://halturnerradioshow.com, HAL TURNERIn an interview with the "Kyiv Independent" newspaper, former President of France, Francois Hollande, claimed that the Minsk agreements had brought Russia to diplomatic territory, leaving Kiev's army time to strengthen. An admission contradicting the peaceful declarations of the time.
While Vladimir Putin was advancing in the Donbass using the pro-Russian separatists ( ... ) "we led him to accept the Normandy format and to come to Minsk for the negotiations." said Hollande.
The former French president aligned himself with Angela Merkel who, December 7 in an interview at "Die Zeit," claimed that the Minsk agreements had been "an attempt to give Ukraine time" to strengthen militarily for a future confrontation with Moscow.
Officially, these agreements, signed on September 5, 2014 were concluded with the stated objective of restoring peace between Kiev and the Donbass Republics. That conflict left nearly 15,000 ( civilians and soldiers ) dead between 2014 and 2022.
To the question of whether the Minsk negotiations were intended to delay Russian progress in Ukraine, François Hollande replied in the affirmative: « "Yes, Angela Merkel is right on this point. The Minsk agreements stopped the Russian offensive for a time. What was important was how the West would use this respite to prevent any subsequent Russian attempt."
Holland claims to have enabled the strengthening of the Ukrainian army, a respite that the West and Kiev seem to have taken advantage of: "Since 2014, Ukraine has strengthened its military capabilities. Indeed, the Ukrainian army is completely different from that of 2014. She is better trained and better equipped. It is the merit of the Minsk agreements to have given the Ukrainian army this opportunity" he said.