Top Israeli Expert Yakov Kedmi: Minsk Peace No Longer Exists, Ukrainian Rada Will Not Honor It

Yakov Kedmi, public man, Israel: Firstly, the US embassy that gave instructions on whom to appoint as the Ukrainian PM, continues to do so. That is. They were perfectly conscious of their words, although they don't realize what they did. But they continue to do the same. The new US State Department establishment pursues the same policy. So, there's nothing surprising about it. The person they had recommended resigned as the PM long ago. Thus, they don't care. Americans backed Saakashvili in Ukraine. Nobody but Americans could come up with such a silly idea of sensing Saakashvili to Ukraine. They sent him there and orchestrated a dramedy for the whole world. That is, don't be amazed at them. As for Volker, he's a US general. As I put it, "drop and give us fifty:" they give him an order, he executes it. A US general executes orders without thinking them over. That was the case in Iraq. Another US general dispersed the Iraqi Army, drove away everyone, unaware of the fact that there are Sunnis and Shia. Well, you know the rest.

 

As for the Minsk Agreements, to my knowledge, the Rada didn't adopt them, did it? It means that for Ukraine, legally, they're not worth the paper they're written on. Right? Right.

— Absolutely.

— That's it.

— Although, the UN Security Council confirmed them.

— Then I don't understand those who cling to them and believe in an invalid meaningless piece of paper, reiterating that we must solve the problem basing on what? On a false piece of paper? It isn't valid.

— I wonder why you're calling it invalid. It is valid for those who signed it and those who stick to it, and it's approved by the UN. If Ukraine fails to respect it, it's the problem is with its implementation, not its validity.

— It's the problem of double standards…

— Wait a second…

— But no law can become a UN Security Council resolution.

— What about the Budapest agreement? No, it isn't a resolution.

— It didn't become a resolution. That memorandum didn't become the UN Security Council resolution.

— You'd better clarify for yourself what is a memorandum.

— Look, we're serious people…

— And we're discussing serious things.

— If the presidents assumed obligations, we all understand that…

— It's a declaration of intentions.

— Firstly, a memorandum and an agreement are different notions. Secondly, the UN Security Council enacted the Minsk Agreements. Was the Budapest memorandum enacted by the UN Security Council?

— No. The Security Council…

Yakov Kedmi: The United Nations Organization cannot oblige Ukraine. I mean that a state is free either to comply or not with what the UN adopts. Its resolutions aren't legally binding. It isn't a legislative body. It's an advisory body. They get together, talk, agree, and adopt something. If a state accepts a resolution, it is valid. Otherwise, it is invalid. That is, a resolution is multilateral, if one of the countries doesn't accept it, didn't adopt it according to its law, it isn't legally binding. You agree with another country, but its parliament doesn't approve it, so it isn't valid in that country. Will you insist that?

— Are all parliaments obliged to approve everything?

— No, it depends on the form of government. It depends on the form of government, in Ukraine, it is the case.

— The form of government doesn't mean that the president, who's granted by the Ukrainian Constitution the right to sign international agreements, puts his signature. The rest, whether it is subject to ratification or not, is secondary.

— No international agreement…

— We're just trying to clarify the issue as Vasily has said that ratification is indispensable.

— Absolutely.

— He says it because he doesn't want it to be implemented.

— No, no, it's not the thing.

— By the Ukrainian law, is it subject to ratification or not?

No, it is not subject to ratification.

— Any convention, an agreement must be ratified by the parliament to be valid. In Ukraine as well, of course.

— What are you talking about? Was anyone here an MP? You were? OK.

— And you agree with me.

— Yes, I do.

— Dear friend, I'll reveal you a secret that in Russia, Ukraine or other countries there's a notion of treaty law.

— Absolutely.

— It must be respected.

— They're just trying to evade the Minsk Agreements, that's it.

Yakov Kedmi: If this mechanism is codified by law then it's what law requires. That is, they don't exist for Ukraine. Thus, while considering them, we should bear in mind that one of the signatory states cannot respect the agreement. Consequently, it doesn't exist because an agreement is bilateral, and if one party withdraws from it, it doesn't exist anymore.

 I'd like to touch upon another issue. You're talking about a counter-terrorist operation. There was no counter-terrorist operation. It was the Ukrainian government's counterinsurgency operation conducted by the Army and Nazi gangs against a part of the Ukrainian people who wanted to defend their rights. That's it.

— Who fought on the other side?

— It was a counterinsurgency operation. On the other side, people were stopping those tanks with their hands. It was in 2014.

Yakov Kedmi: It's utterly hypocritical to call a counterinsurgency operation a counter-terrorist operation. Let them call it so, but why are you calling it counter-terrorist? What terror are you talking about? Azov Battalion and other hit squads came to give it hot to the people living in Donbas and deprive them of the right to live the way they want. That's it. That's what happened there. And we should treat it so. Finally, negotiations may be endless, but nothing will change unless the situation changes, but talks can't change it. Armed people are game-changers. As Lenin would say, only a person with a gun who has chosen the way they want to live can defend their life and will succeed only by arms, not talks.

— Andrey.

Yakov Kedmi: Who imposed quotas on Ukrainian agricultural produce? The EU did. Harsh quotas. They eliminated all hopes of Ukraine to become an agrarian superpower. Regarding the elites and illusions: It's high time for the Russian political elite to dispel their illusions and realize that negotiations won't resolve the Ukrainian crisis. Because we have nothing to discuss with those Europeans responsible for the crisis. They didn't realize that they were dragging Ukraine into the abyss. We shouldn't hope that they might realize that today. They haven't realized anything. It's fair. While discussing other issues, your president asked the Europeans: "Do you realize what you've done?" They don't. And they never will. There's nobody to negotiate with regarding Ukraine. The Russian political elite's still convinced that they can talk the Ukrainian issue through. Ukraine's been gone for a long time. The only thing that exists is hope. An illusion. Ukraine's gone. There's nobody to negotiate with regarding Ukraine neither the United States nor Europe. The issue might be resolved if Ukraine wants it. If Ukraine doesn't, there's no one else to blame.

— Konstantin?

Konstantin Zatulin, member of State Duma: I can't speak on behalf of the whole Russian political elite. It's medley, we've got our own piqué waistcoats. But if we speak about the upper circles I wouldn't say they have any illusions regarding Ukraine since Putin came to power. There are just various approaches to defending our interests. We've mentioned the Minsk Agreements. Those agreements aren't extraordinary. But they are being violated. They are violated primarily by Ukraine and those who guaranteed those Minsk Agreements. They don't want to see these violations. It doesn't mean they are meaningless. We don't consider the Ten Commandments to be meaningless based on the fact that the majority of people don't follow them. Some violate only one, some violate all of them. It doesn't mean that we didn't aspire to some moral ideals. The countries that ratified the UN Charter and are now violating it continue to exist. Together with the whole world community, they everyone the world to follow the Charter. Don't hope that we'll flush our diplomatic success down the drain. I'm talking about the Minsk Agreements. We'll never go for that. It doesn't mean we worship them or delude ourselves. We don't delude ourselves.

Regarding Crimea and whether what it did was rightful: Yes, Ukraine did everything to stop the referendum from happening. During its whole existence, Ukraine hasn't adopted any referendum laws. Even though the referendum in Crimea was held prior to the collapse of the USSR. Crimea wanted to be a separate Republic of the Union. Separate from Ukraine, by the way. My friends, if you adore the West so much or used to adore, or swore allegiance to them then you must know that Europe said that a country's legislation doesn't need to recognize a right to hold a referendum as it happened in Kosovo. If people see the necessity, they have the right to hold it. So stop talking nonsense. I was there and I saw the people. You won't convince me that there were two soldiers following each person forcing them to vote in the referendum. — It's a lie!

— Who needs soldiers if there are TVs!

— The Crimeans have always wanted back. The people wanted it.

— Even facing hardships today, they are still…

— I've said nothing about Crimea.

— I'd rather you didn't.

— I've only talked about the television. I fully agree on that.

— Why wasn't your mind formed by the television?

— The television's existed for 23 years in Crimea. And they haven't seen anything odd.

— The Ukrainians can't use a TV properly as effectively as the Russians do it.

Konstantin Zatulin: Don't form a new state if you're so miserable. You've been told that. If you can't even switch a TV on, don't do it. Don't form a state.