Poroshenko on his way out? Putin says no peaceful resolution until Ukraine has new president

RFE/RL
Fri, 16 Nov 2018 16:15 UTC

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he doesn't expect any progress toward establishing peace in eastern Ukraine until after Ukrainian elections, which he said he hopes will produce a new president next year.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's office blasted Putin's statement on November 15, saying the Russian president is "meddling" in the Ukrainian presidential contest even before it has started.

Speaking at a news conference in Singapore, Putin said efforts by the leaders of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine -- the so-called Normandy Four -- to press for progress carrying out a peace plan forged in the Belarusian capital in 2015 would be "pointless" for the time being.

Comment: That's true. Poroshenko has not fulfilled his requirements under the Minsk agreements, and never showed any signs that he would.

Putin said he hopes a new presidential administration in Kyiv next year will dedicate itself to peacefully resolving the conflict between the government and Moscow-backed separatists that has killed more than 10,300 people since 2014.

"The current Ukrainian authorities have not shown any desire to implement the Minsk agreements -- they are not doing anything to implement them, nothing is happening," Putin said, claiming that as long as Poroshenko's administration remains in power "a peaceful resolution of issues in these territories can hardly be counted on."

Ukrainian presidential press secretary Sviatoslav Tseholko wrote on Facebook that Poroshenko wants a peaceful settlement in eastern Ukraine, but "will never agree on peace on the terms of an aggressor country."

Comment: In other words, the Minsk agreements are just pieces of paper... Tseholko doesn't seem to realize how he appears to others: unwilling and incapable of fulfilling binding agreements.

Kyiv and Western governments accuse Russia of providing arms and troops to help the Ukrainian separatists, and say that Russia is not carrying out its part of the Minsk peace plan by withdrawing that support. The Kremlin denies the accusations.

Comment: There are rumors in the Russian media that Poroshenko doesn't expect to win another term:

According to the generally reliable Russian website, iarex.ru, Poroshenko seems quite aware that he is unlikely to win the upcoming election in Ukraine. Polls presently project that a transfer of power will take place, favoring elements of the 'old guard' of Ukrainian oligarchs, led by Yulia Tymoshenko who presently leads in various polls.

According to iarex.ru, Poroshenko has already started an urgent sale of his assets, so that after the elections he will immediately leave the penniless and decaying country.

Petro Poroshenko is ostensibly negotiating the sale of its own assets in Ukraine. The goal is to close the deal before March 1, 2019.

Two independent auditors from among the Big Five handed over reports to two potential buyers. The first candidate is a consortium of ostracized oligarchs from the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Lithuania. The second candidate is a group led by Dmitry Firtash and two high-ranking members of the US Democratic Party, with the support of Joe Biden and Michael Pence.

According to the TG-channel "Nelyagar", the negotiations are in the final stage - the best deal is being negotiated, the form of payment and the end points of the withdrawal of capital. According to the current information, 85% of non-cash payments will go to special accounts in the US Federal Treasury and Chase -Manhattan Bank.