ICDS deputy director: Russia comes out of Minsk on top
Martin Hurt, a security expert who is the deputy director of the International Center for Defense and Security in Tallinn, told ERR News that the agreements reached in Belarus on Thursday leave Russia with all roads open - an exit for reconsolidation, or avenues for further meddling.
Otherwise, he continued, "the architect of the current situation, Russia's current regime, gains.""Of Ukrainian territory, Russia controls Crimea directly and two oblasts indirectly. Russia will still have the option of claiming that Ukraine is not complying with some part of the Minsk agreement and then once again incite 'spontaneous' anti-Kyiv actions in Donbass.
"European countries and the US have even greater reason to build up defense and solidarity. Because if the war in Ukraine does truly end, then Russia can calmly refresh its forces, analyze lessons and face the future, stronger than before."
Editor: K. Rikken