Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
MOSCOW, SANA- Statements by top Ukrainian officials, former German chancellor Angela Merkel and ex-president of France Francois Hollande who admitted that the Minsk accords were meant to buy Kiev time to beef up its defenses should work as evidence for an international tribunal to prosecute them, a senior Russian lawmaker said on Wednesday.
“The Ukrainian Security Council chief admitted that the Kiev regime had been getting ready for a war against Russia. This statement on top of what Merkel and Hollande said about the Minsk agreements, that they were just a way to buy Kiev time to build up its military strength, are yet another proof what a major security threat both residents of Donbass and citizens of our country were facing,” State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on his Telegram channel.
“The revelations by the Kiev official and the former leaders of Germany and France should be used as evidence in an international military tribunal,” he added.
According to the speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, the leaders of Ukraine, as well as Merkel and Hollande, “had been plotting to wage a world war with predictable consequences and they should be punished for their crimes.” The decision to launch a special military operation, he argued, “made it possible to prevent a disaster and huge deaths.”
In an interview with Die Zeit last December, Merkel described the 2014 conclusion of the Minsk Agreements as an effort to buy Ukraine time to become stronger. According to her, it was clear to everyone that the conflict was stalled and the issue had not been resolved, “but this was what gave Ukraine invaluable time.” Russian President Vladimir Putin later said Merkel’s remark about the Minsk accords took him by surprise and disappointed him.
In late 2022. Hollande, who was directly involved in efforts to conclude the Minsk Agreements in 2015, confirmed Merkel’s statements that these accords were needed to give Kiev time to prepare for an armed conflict.
TASS
