Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 8 February (BelTA) – The Minsk Agreements signed about a year ago helped prevent more tragic consequences of the conflict in Ukraine, director of the information and enlightenment center Timely Concept Alexander Shpakovsky said in an interview to the ONT TV Channel, BelTA informs.

“The local conflict in the south-east of Ukraine did not turn into an international conflict. The war did not come to other states, which could have happened. The conflict in Europe has been frozen in some sense. It is very important. I think that the further development of events will not be so dramatic as it could be,” the expert said.

He stressed that a big number of people from other states were involved in the Ukrainian armed conflict. “These were various voluntary formations. There were thousands of such people from both the sides. The Minsk Agreements helped localize the matter,” noted Alexander Shpakovsky.

In turn, Director on Research at the Liberal Club Yevgeny Preigerman emphasized: “The main thing is that the Minsk Agreements helped stop the scale of bloodshed on the Ukrainian land. According to the UN, more than 9,000 people have been killed in the armed conflict in Ukraine,” he said. Yevgeny Preigerman added that about 200 people were killed after the agreements were signed. “We understand that every human life is a huge loss. At the same time, however, every saved life is a great achievement,” the expert stressed.

The Second Minsk Agreements or Minsk-2 were approved in the form of a declaration following many-hour talks between the heads of Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France. They were signed by the participants of the contact group on Ukraine, which comprises representatives of the OSCE, Russia, Ukraine and separate regions of Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts.