After the government coup [#Maidam, 2014] , when we started talking to then Ukrainian President #Poroshenko, he promised that he would never allow a war between the Ukrainian army and the citizens of Eastern Ukraine. He promised then that they would be true to their commitment to national minorities.

We seriously discussed federalization with then U.S. Secretary of State J. #Kerry, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy K. #Ashton, and Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine A. Deshchytsia. This was in April 2014. We had a serious discussion. No one mentioned #Crimea. The matter was already resolved. We developed a document (the Geneva Statement of April 17, 2014). It said that the heads of Ukrainian regions should jointly discuss how to continue to live in a state that used to be unitary, but that the rights of minorities should also matter. That was 2014. Then everyone “forgot” about it.

#Zelensky also came to power under the slogan that he would fulfill the #Minsk agreements. A few months after his inauguration, he said quite different things: that they are a unitary state, there will be no special status, that he does not talk to “separatists”, etc.

Another lie that the French president voiced in his recent pathetic statement concerns the December 2019 meeting in Paris between E. #Macron, then-French Chancellor #Merkel, Russian President Vladimir #Putin and Vladimir Zelensky. Allegedly, the Germans and French convened it to save the Minsk agreements. The preparatory work culminated in a consensus document agreed upon by experts and ministers of the four countries. It was then presented to the presidents and the chancellor. It spoke of the need for a separation of forces on the line of contact: first in three areas and then along the entire length of the line of contact. This was agreed. When it was shown to the leaders, everyone was satisfied. However, Zelensky said that he could only agree to try to do it in three “experimental” areas, not along the entire line of contact. No one could understand why, but he insisted. The main point is that he never withdrew troops even in those three areas. The hostilities continued.

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The second aspect of the root causes of the conflict. I have already mentioned the eradication of the Russian language, the media, culture, the banning of opposition parties, some opposition media even though they write and broadcast in Ukrainian, the murders and disappearances of journalists, not to mention the war crimes against people in #Donbass immediately after the government coup. These people were called “terrorists”. All of this is in flagrant violation of the UN Charter, which states that all shall respect the rights of every human being, regardless of race, sex, language or religion. This is Article 1 of the UN Charter.

I spoke with the UN Secretary General A. Guterres. I attracted the attention of journalists at the UN when I came there and held press conferences. I also drew journalists' attention to a number of topics that were used by the West to condemn Russia as an “egregious criminal”. It all started in July 2014 with the shooting down of Malaysian Boeing Flight #MH17.

The trial was held with only one in-person witness, 12 others were not presented. Their names are unknown. But the jury said their testimony could be relied upon and they confirmed their words. So it's still a very dark case.

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And another recent case. #Bucha. As a goodwill gesture for the signing of the Istanbul Agreement in April 2022, we withdrew from several settlements on the outskirts of Kiev. Two days after we left this settlement, the BBC showed the main street of Bucha with dead bodies neatly laid out along the entire route on both sides of the road. Of course, there was a wave of outrage. We insisted on an investigation. But so far, no one seems to care. We want to know the names of the people whose bodies the BBC showed.

Twice publicly raised this issue in the UN Security Council in the presence of the Secretary-General, as well as during personal meetings with him. We sent official requests to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. There has been no response. Twice I raised the issue in New York before all foreign correspondents, appealing to their professional duty. To no avail.