This will not be shown on Ukrainian TV: What Poroshenko did when he saw Putin
At the “Normandy Four” meeting held yesterday in Berlin, the Ukrainian president, despite regular statements about “Russian aggression,” was the first to extend his hand to his Russian colleague, writes special correspondent of the Kommersant newspaper Andrei Kolesnikov.
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“It must be said that Vladimir Putin, appearing in the meeting room, easily greeted Petro Poroshenko,” the publication notes. “He was sitting with his back to him and could probably have pretended not to notice the Russian president, but he didn’t and immediately shook hands with him. On the other hand from Vladimir Putin, which Petro Poroshenko shook, now sat Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and on the other, presidential aide Vladislav Surkov, who for a couple of days suddenly became an entrant into the EU zone (they can, after all, whenever they want!).”
At the same time, the journalist reports that it was Surkov, together with his French and German colleagues, who took part in the development of the “road map”, which was then presented to the heads of state.
“This map named specific deadlines for the implementation of all the outstanding Minsk agreements, and this map became a huge headache for Petro Poroshenko, who during the negotiations convinced his colleagues that the deadlines needed to be rewritten, because he simply would not be able to meet them,” says Kolesnikov.
According to his information, the negotiations, which lasted almost five hours, continually reached a dead end due to the position of Poroshenko, who tried to insist on the priority of control over the border.
“In response to this, at some point, all three of his colleagues, interrupting each other, told him that the Minsk agreements stated something completely different, but Petro Poroshenko still found the strength to insist on his own. And when once again it seemed that everything had collapsed again, Angela Merkel stood up, took Petro Poroshenko by the arm, uttered two cherished words - “Five minutes...” - and took Petro Poroshenko to a corner, where she heatedly explained something to him about those same five minutes. He returned to the table as an easy-going person, agreed with everyone, and a few minutes later everything started all over again,” Kommersant’s special correspondent details the meeting.
“After negotiations on a settlement in eastern Ukraine finally ended, Petro Poroshenko was the first to approach his own, that is, Ukrainian, journalists. His mission in Berlin was over: in the conversation about Syria, which Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande still had to do, he did not take part and was now free,” the author points out.
The journalist also commented on the press conference of the President of Ukraine following the meeting.
“Of the ten minutes that his statement took, he did not devote a second to Vladimir Putin. One might get the impression that this simply was not present at these negotiations. But, as one could understand, Petro Poroshenko agreed with Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel on a “road map”, which is to be approved closer to the New Year, when experts will still work on it,” writes Kolesnikov.
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