Belkovsky: If Minsk makes concessions to Russia, Putin will take further steps

Russia has intensified its military presence in the Donbass region to demand to meet its requirements during the Norman format summit in Minsk.

Russian political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky told Radio Svaboda about it.

"Vladimir Putin sells the peace, so that is why he should significantly aggravate the war before having talks with the European leaders. He needs to prove that he is the only who can bring peace to Ukraine, but peacekeeping costs a lot", Belkovsky said.

However, the expert notes that, most likely, there formally may be positive news received today from Minsk - based on indirect signs, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko is ready to hand over a number of positions and wants to negotiate with Vladimir Putin.

"But, in fact, it does not mean the end of the war as Ukraine is not the ultimate goal of Putin. Ukraine is only the subject and the territory for talks and a bargaining with the West. Putin's ultimate goal is to become a Stalin and bring the world back to the Yalta-Potsdam format that was stopped in 1989 when the Soviet bloc collapsed. And this is what the West will never accept.

Reconciliation in the Donbass region is possible, Putin's set of requirements is clear: the autonomy of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and guarantees from the Ukraine's side to provide life-support of the Crimea, after all, Putin is not able to occupy the corridor between the Russian-Ukrainian border and the Crimea. But the conflict will not outrun itself. If Putin feels like a winner, he will take further steps. On the one hand, the West understands it, but on the other hand, there is a great fear of war with Russia. Therefore, the West will do everything possible to avoid the war, even by price of great concessions to the Russian Federation", Stanislav Belkovsky said.