Minsk Protocol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), and the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) signed the Minsk Protocol, an agreement to halt the war in the Donbass region of Ukraine, on 5 September 2014.[1][2][3] It was signed after extensive talks in Minsk, Belarus, under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The agreement, which followed multiple previous attempts to stop fighting in the Donbass, implemented an immediate ceasefire.
Minsk process and drafting[edit]
The agreement was drawn-up by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, which consisted of representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE.[4] The group was established in June as a way to facilitate dialogue and resolution to the strife across eastern and southern Ukraine. Meetings of the group, along with informal representatives of the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, took place on 31 July 1 September, and 5 September. The details of the agreement, signed on 5 September, largely resembled Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko's 20 June "fifteen-point peace plan". The following representatives signed the document:[5]
Protocol[edit]
The protocol of the Minsk Agreement consists of twelve points:[5]
- Ensure an immediate bilateral ceasefire.
- Ensure the monitoring and verification by the OSCE of the ceasefire.
- A decentralisation of power, including through the adoption of the law of Ukraine "about local government provisional arrangements in some areas of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts" (law on the special status).
- Ensure the permanent monitoring of the Ukrainian-Russian border and verification by the OSCE with the creation of security zones in the border regions of Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
- To immediately release all hostages and illegally detained persons.
- A law on preventing the prosecution and punishment of persons in connection with the events that have taken place in some areas of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.
- Continue the inclusive national dialogue.
- To take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Donbass.
- Ensure early local elections in accordance with the law of Ukraine "about local government provisional arrangements in some areas of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts" (law on the special status).
- Withdraw the illegal armed groups, military equipment, as well as fighters and mercenaries from Ukraine.
- To adopt the program of economic recovery and reconstruction of Donbass region.
- To provide personal security for the participants in the consultations.
Follow-up memorandum[edit]
In the two weeks after the Minsk Protocol was signed, there were frequent violations of the ceasefire by both parties to the conflict.[6][7] Talks continued in Minsk, and a follow-up to the Minsk Protocol was agreed to on 19 September 2014. This memorandum clarified the implementation of the Protocol. Amongst some of the peacemaking measures agreed to were:[6][8][9]
- To pull heavy weaponry 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) back on each side of the line of contact, creating a 30-kilometre (19 mi) buffer zone
- To ban offensive operations
- To ban flights by combat aircraft over the security zone
- To withdraw all foreign mercenaries from the conflict zone
- To set up an OSCE mission to monitor implementation of Minsk Protocol