Yulia Tymoshenko: “Minsk protocol” threatens Ukraine's integrity

The leader of Batkivshchyna party criticises the agreements that were signed in Minsk.

Yulia Tymoshenko says in a statement on her official website that the protocol on truce signed in Minsk threatens the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

“The protocol does not set requirements to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine. It means de facto they make a lodgement in our territory. I think the protocol poses a threat to Ukraine. The official party that signed it recognises LNR and DNR groups,” Tymoshenko said.

She thinks the separatists in fact receive the right to sign official documents with Ukraine. “As a result, someone may decide that Ukraine admits a civil war in the country. LNR and DNR do not exist de facto. There's the aggression of the Russian Federation that declared war on Ukraine,” Tymoshenko added.

She urged the president to immediately call a special meeting of the Verkhovna Rada to discuss the agreements reached in Minsk on September 5. “Everyone in the country wants to be sure these protocols do not mean to cede the territory of Donbas,” Tymoshenko wrote.

The Batkivshchyna leader suggests a reshuffle among top officials of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence.

The trilateral contact group on Ukraine met in Minsk on Friday, September 5. The contact group on solving the Ukrainian conflict included representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE and terrorists.

The President of Ukraine signed an order on a ceasefire in Donbas on Friday.

Terrorists and Russian troops were reported yesterday to have violated the truce and fired at Ukrainian troops near Mariupol and on the outskirts of Donetsk.