Poroshenko: the fate of Europe is being decided in Minsk

It is possible that the EU-Ukraine-Eurasian trio summit will last until late at night. Journalists were told that after the first official meeting, the participants went to dinner.

It is still unknown whether his bilateral meeting between Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko will take place. This is the main issue discussed on the sidelines of the summit.

Before the start of negotiations, Vladimir Putin, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Alexander Lukashenko waited for Petro Poroshenko for some time. When the President of Ukraine came, they shook his hand in turn.

The European Union at the meeting in Minsk is represented by High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, European Commissioner for Energy Günter Oettinger and European Commissioner for Trade Karel de Gucht.

Before the start of the summit, the President of Ukraine said: “Today, the fate of the world and the fate of Europe is decided in Minsk. This is how I assess the potential of our meeting. Together we must find the only correct solution on which peace on the continent depends.”

According to Poroshenko, none of the participants in the meeting questions the independence of Ukraine and the right of its people to independently determine their present and future. He stressed that the Ukrainian people do not impose a form of internal structure on anyone and demand respect for their own choice. "Ukraine is a responsible member of the international community and requires respect for its sovereignty, territorial integrity and borders in accordance with generally accepted norms of international law." At the same time, the purpose of Poroshenko's visit to Minsk is to do everything possible to stop the bloodshed and start looking for a compromise.

The President of Ukraine stated that he was ready to discuss various options that would provide a strategy for a peaceful future for Ukraine and for the whole of Europe. The primary condition for stabilizing the situation in the east of the country, according to Petro Poroshenko, is the establishment of effective control on the Russian-Ukrainian border and the release of all hostages, including those who were taken to Russia.

At the beginning of the meeting, Vladimir Putin called the Customs Union-Ukraine format with the participation of EU representatives a good opportunity to discuss the association of Ukraine with the EU and cooperation with the Eurasian Troika. True, in his speech he only mentioned the situation in Donbass, saying that the situation would not be resolved without a peaceful dialogue with the participants in the conflict. But he mostly criticized Ukraine for its intention to ratify the association agreement with the EU, and Belarus for illegal import of products prohibited for import into Russia: “Here, it’s signed: the country of origin is Belarus. The sticker was torn off - Poland.