as for the minsk accords, there is no alternative to the minsk accords, as simple as that. i've been alarmed by the and -- by the statement by president zelensky after he left paris. he said we could revise it. if we start a revision, we could hit a dead end, complete impasse. the special status of the donbas, that has to be embedded in the constitution, it is the centerpiece of the minsk accords. and that has been extended for a year, but we have said multiple times, me and other members of the normandy for group, that it has to be a permanent fixture, it has to be embedded in the constitution. neither the previous administration nor the existing one want to do that, but you cannot avoid it. and second, you need direct dialogue with the donbas. there is no dialogue. now, they say there will be changes related to decentralization, and that's good, but we will be instead of, -- will it be instead of the minsk accords would be instead of the special status of the donbas? according to the minsk accords, if anything has to do with those two regions, you have to get approval fro

will be changes related to decentralization, and that's good, but we will be instead of , the minsk accords would be instead of the special status of the donbas? accords, to the minsk if anything has to do with those two regions, you have to get approval from those two regions. it has been their request to get that approval. and the future meeting in april, it will be relevant if there are any positive changes. do we have any positive changes? yes. that's true. that law on the special status as has been extended, so we still have a foundation for the settlement. and second, we saw disenengagement, the pullout of the troops from several areas. however, our partners in ukraine don't want to pull out the troops from the entire front line. that is a mistake but that's , their stance. the number of shelling and you know, bombings has decreased, but there are still incidents like that. so there are positive changes, there is some alarming news, but i think it makes sense to work for the normandy for format -- format.andy four and you mentioned colleagues from ukraine. do we have anyone from ukrai

but is this meant to replace the to replace thebe minsk accords? will it be on the special status of donbass? well, according to the minsk accords, for anything to be done regions, you have to get approval of those regions. there has been no approval. that is alarming. -- next meeting is in april it will only be relevant if we see positive changes. have there been positive changes? yes. it is true the law on the special status has been -- on the donbass has been extended. , thee saw disengagement pullout of the troops from several areas. our partners in ukraine do not want to pull back the troops from the entire front line. that's a mistake, but that's their stance. number of shelling and, you know, bombings has decreased, but there are still incidents like that. so there are positive changes. some alarming news, but i think it makes sense to continue working in the normandy format. you mentioned colleagues in the ukraine? do we have anyone from the ukraine? let him have the mic. roman: hello. my name is roman tsymbalyuk, and i represent the ukraini

he minsk accords and dismantling the administrations n the nonrecognized republics, let's go back to minsk. insice cysted to have signatures by the heads of those two unrecognized republics. and put a knife to my neck the heads of those republics said we don't want to do it. o that's a sneak peek but we convinced them to put their signatures and ukraine ecognized these authorities in dunbas. they are shaken ahead of the next election. they went and voted. this is a democratic way to vote people in power. and the accords have a direct reference on what is the right land to epublics language, local police, everything is possible with the minsk accords. now going to some of the africa shons. there is nothing to hide. i will be honest with you with e russian and republic and ukraine republic and there is a provision that they have to be pulled out and the border should be closed and the border will be closed on day two after the election and that will end overwhelming and comprehensive political settlement and that includes changes to the ukranian constitutions and granting the rights tha

the minsk accords. and disbanding the administrations in the self declared republics recognize that we have publics. means. let's go back to. where the chords were produced former president. insisted. to have signature. by the heads of you to want to recognize the public's you know they put a knife to my. nick metaphorically but the heads of those republics said you know we. you don't want to do it so that say sneak peek behind. in the minsk convince them to put the signature of ukraine recognize the. the use of these authorities in the. us. they had the election. they had people. vote this is a democratic way to make you vote. people in power and the means has a direct reference. on what is the rights of those republics what use of them because in the. land the language. average thing is part of the minsk accords. that we. exported. the friction woods. there's nothing to hide i'll be honest with you. the russian public and the ukrainian public need to be aware of their you know there really is a. provi

right now german chancellor said that the minsk accords all flexible. still. met all the means could call on. if you'd. arrangement. with them and thus allow for a certain flexibility in the might because some things that are written on paper could be interpreted differently by all the parties and we discard it we did discuss it spurts of them is because there are things that so or plaiting clear. in black and white and there are some issues which will be born out of compromise. means can see 1015 this is war and there are different interpretations and i said listen we agree on that score with the german chancellor and we that's why we are meeting now. we want to reach the common denominator we want to reach the same standard to be on the same page. but i agree. that there is no alternative to the means could chords we need to make sure that they are fully implemented. thank you for the question if you don't mind. start off with the following. pretty interesting. russian president mentioned multiple times. he's prepared for direct dialogue and i'm alway

the music use of launching read the minsk accords they say ukraine will begin to establish control over the russia don't bust mordor the day after elections are held in the region that is what the documents say why undermine the agreements and rewrite their content see if we alter one article then the others are likely to be altered as well and will ultimately lose everything i do have to say that there have been concerns that the government of the legs t. won't be able to fulfill their part of the agreement to at all in the near future because of the. pressure that's been mounting on him domestic only the anti russian pro-war lot b. is still very strong and any baby steps that selenski could potentially make towards russia could lead to some serious political damage for him at a whole common conclusions being made by the normandy quartet that say that the russian and ukrainian saw aides will remain interested in trying to find ways to somehow reach a compromise when it comes to these most difficult elements of the minsk agreement that i mentioned and also most importantly there will be

what we should want is alinsky to do is to continue this peace process sometimes known as the minsk accord with russia to settle this dispute what's the point of sending more weapons to ukraine which by the way and it's warehouses has plenty of weapons do you support the. no no no no i don't support the a preacher in trouble for a whole lot of reasons but i think that at the end particularly with elections what 910 months away and this is not something that at that i don't see the crime for which. you know it's compelling to make an impeachment case i've looked at all this stuff in russian here i mean it may have been bad form he had a couple phone calls was allegedly which could have been better i don't think he's got great advisers in the white house some of the people he brought in the white house he didn't like but he brought him in to get the russia gate accusations he brought in hard liners like fiona and john bolton to make it look like he was tough i don't think it's good advice but you know i don't i don't you think putin is the most of all men in the world. i mean that would take

document the minsk accords. from between for february 2015 will have to be complied fully and are on the queue vocally. there needs to be direct dialogue between the call parties we'll discuss. the disengagement and 3 pilot areas. on the path to further does collation in the southeast of ukraine. making sure there's a full says for we hope the disengagement will continue and there will be demining indeed fortification of words were also needed to coordinate so the process of ceasefire with political reforms in ukraine in line with the means could cause. first of all if the constitution needs to be amended to would allow for a special status of the dumbass region was in need to extend the law or the special status of the on the bass. provision must be made permanent in line with the minutes could chords that i mentioned earlier. we need to start to introduce adjustment amendments related to the formula all the commitments need to be delivered on the. on the persecution of. the those who fought in the southeast we

special status of several regions of donbass it should have constant character as agreed in the minsk accord selenski made it clear that he would not compromise ukrainian sovereignty. i want to establish the principles that i'll never violate as ukraine's president and that the ukrainian people would never accept the federal laws ation of ukraine is impossible ukraine is a sovereign state. more than 13000 people have been killed in the 5 year war in eastern ukraine between government forces and russian backed fighters close to the front line wary residents in the city of donetsk said they were cautious about the talks. most of the things should be decided through negotiations and not through war i see the world like this and we should be stopped because it is difficult to live here it is difficult morally and psychologically we need peace and tranquility of. this some it's been a delicate balancing act for all sides but particularly for selenski the former t.v. actor made ending the war in ukraine one of his campaign promises but he's been under pressure at home not to give in to russia's de

declaration, to what extent will it be able to exit of the -- to resolve the conflict and revise the minsk peace accordich has the ingredients you would need to resolve the conflict. what you really need is a choreography, which element comes first. it is clear a cease-fire has to come first. we have a cease-fire and then follows the withdrawal of heavy arms. the question is then, will we have elections first? and then, ukraine regaining its territory or the other way around? brent: it really is premature to talk about expectations of any significant breakthrough. would you agree? georg: absolutely. we are quite far away from a real breakthrough. it a mere three and a half years for this meeting to take place. the french president has put quite a bit of legwork into brokering a meeting like this with german chancellor angela merkel. it took a lot of convincing. there are some positive sides. there is a new president in ukraine. there has been a presenter swap -- a prisonener swap.p. some positive signs on which you can build. none of that is guaranteed. brent: this is the first meeting between these tw

special status of several regions of donbass it should have constant character as agreed in the minsk accord selenski made it clear that he would not compromise ukrainian sovereignty. i want to establish the principles that i'll never violate as ukraine's president and that the ukrainian people would never accept the federal laws ation of ukraine is impossible ukraine is a sovereign state. more than 13000 people have been killed in the 5 year war in eastern ukraine between government forces and russian backed fighters close to the front line wary residents in the city of donetsk said they were cautious about the talks. most of the things should be decided through negotiations and not through war i see the world like this and we should be stopped because it is difficult to live here it is difficult morally and psychologically we need peace and tranquility of. this some it's been a delicate balancing act for all sides but particularly for selenski the former t.v. actor made ending the war in ukraine one of his campaign promises but he's been under pressure at home not to give in to russia's de

according to the minister did not resist his abduction he was taken to a military training area northeast of minsk. on the right there he reportedly asked his captors to make his death as painless as possible. he says he then handed a special assassination gun to one of the officers. was shot at close range and instantly died. where in munster a small town in northwestern germany. suckering close wife and 2 daughters live here in exile. as well as their children who never met their granddad. elena oldest daughter. she works as a saleswoman and is the only family member willing to talk about their experience. this is the 1st time she is confronted with testimony about the murder of her father. she reacts skeptically but also deeply moved. it's difficult to learn about all this and to see the place where he was buried and to hear how he died you need nerves of steel for the. president look at and go has so far refused to shed light on the suspected murder of the opposition figures even the council of europe investigators believe he might have orchestrated their disappearance which is why he has been

7th 1909 had parked his car in front of the old fire station in central minsk he left his car and made his way home by foot. according to the testimony of key witness. 2 men followed the minister. 2 further men then blocked his path. he says they were undercover members of the elite sober unit. one then told the police follow us. although the political situation in belarus was turbulent at the time that had been the leading opposition politician and had been determined to stop the country's turning into a full fledged dictatorship his aim was to oust president look. in the mid 1990 s. organized to controversial referenda that effectively consolidated his dictatorship he stripped parliament of its powers even ignoring lawmakers on hunger strike since then has ruled the roost with an iron fist the country is deemed europe's last remaining dictatorship and the epitome of a police state. was 18 years old at the time after completing his military service he joined the newly founded elite sober unit where he served for 5 years and rose up the ranks. he has copies of documents from the time as evidence. he keeps the origina