RUSSIALINK: “Calling Minsk Agreements treason will deal blow to Zelensky, entire Normandy format – Poroshenko’s lawyer” – Interfax

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

KYIV. Dec 11 (Interfax) – The declaration of the Minsk Agreements as an act of high treason committed by the fifth president of Ukrainian, Petro Poroshenko, will be a blow not just to Poroshenko himself but will also be a blow to the team of incumbent President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as the entire Normandy format, lawyer for Poroshenko, Ihor Holovan, said.

“They are trying to dub the Minsk Agreements an act of high treason. Those agreements helped stop Russian aggression, allowed international sanctions to be imposed on Russia, and gave Ukraine the time and opportunity to build a new army capable of seriously damaging the enemy. They do not care that they are accusing not so much fifth president Poroshenko so much as President Zelensky and his entire negotiating team, who continue to use the Minsk Agreements (the Minsk Protocol of September 5, 2014, the Minsk Memorandum of September 19, 2014, and the Minsk Package of Measures of February 12, 2015) for working in the Normandy format, whose members are committed to the full implementation of these accords. The primary objective of agents of influence from the aggressor state is to do harm to Ukraine,” Holovan wrote in an opinion piece published on the Ukrainska Pravda website.

The National Bureau of Investigation reported opening a criminal inquiry into a possible act of high treason committed by Poroshenko in 2015 by signing the Minsk Agreements for settling the Donbas conflict.

Meanwhile, Andriy Portnov, former deputy chief of staff for former president Viktor Yanukovych, posted a copy of the Bureau’s response to his enquiry on his Telegram channel. According to the document, it was Portnov who asked the Bureau to consider the possible act of treason committed by Poroshenko during talks on the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements on February 11-12, 2015

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