Heard Through Grapevine: Putin Turned Down Poroshenko’s Offer of Donbass
Forbes claims the Ukrainian president directly offered President Putin the opportunity "to take Donbass" but that the Russian head of state turned him down, and suggested declaring it an independent territory if Ukraine does not need it; Ukrainian authorities seem to neither need it nor are they ready to concede to Putin’s alleged offer.
Forbes
claims that President Vladimir Putin has turned down a direct offer
from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko "to take Donbass".
The Russian president allegedly told the board members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs about the offer at a closed meeting, the business magazine quotes its source, "familiar with the content of the meeting", as saying nearly half a month after it transpired, on March 19.
Putin supposedly said that the offer came at the "Normandy talks" in Minsk on February 11-12.
Forbes says that one of the participants of the meeting, who asked for his name not to be revealed, has confirmed that Putin did recount the conversation with Poroshenko, but contended that he had said something slightly different.
"The conversation was about the relationship between Russia and Ukraine, about the adherence to the Minsk agreements, but I am not going to retell his words. This was a wrong interpretation and I have no intention to either comment on it or retell it," he said, adding that it was a closed meeting.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis tweeted that
the Ukrainian president actually meant that Russia should get out of
Donbass rather than take it, which in Ukrainian sounds similar.
The comments to his Twitter post, however, suggest that the two
presidents could not have spoken in Ukrainian and called it "the most
stupid excuse".
The Russian president allegedly told the board members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs about the offer at a closed meeting, the business magazine quotes its source, "familiar with the content of the meeting", as saying nearly half a month after it transpired, on March 19.
Putin supposedly said that the offer came at the "Normandy talks" in Minsk on February 11-12.
Belarus'
President Alexander Lukashenko (C) gestures next to Russia's President
Vladimir Putin (L) and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko as they meet
in the Belarussian capital Minsk
"He [Poroshenko] said to me directly: "‘Take
Donbass!" I answered him:"‘Are you nuts? I don't need Donbass! If you
don’t need it either, declare it independent," Forbes quotes its source
as saying.
The Russian president then said that the Ukrainian authorities,
however, are not ready to concede to it. If they are not ready, Putin
supposedly added, they should pay the residents of Donbass pensions and
social benefits, and restore the region’s banking system.Forbes says that one of the participants of the meeting, who asked for his name not to be revealed, has confirmed that Putin did recount the conversation with Poroshenko, but contended that he had said something slightly different.
"Poroshenko offered Russia to take Donbass
for financial support. Putin said that it would only be possible if
Donbass becomes part of Russia. Until Donbass is part of Ukraine, all
the payments shall be done by the Ukrainian side," Forbes quotes him
as saying.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has already commented on the revelation.
"It is not very good that some participants
of the meeting have revealed the content of their conversation with the
president. Leave it to their own conscience whether it was truth or
untruth. I am not going to comment on it," he said.
Head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs
Aleksandr Shokhin has said that President Putin’s words had been wrongly
interpreted and distorted."The conversation was about the relationship between Russia and Ukraine, about the adherence to the Minsk agreements, but I am not going to retell his words. This was a wrong interpretation and I have no intention to either comment on it or retell it," he said, adding that it was a closed meeting.
"Frankly speaking, those who are creating a
stir with journalists are acting, to put it mildly, inappropriately. And
I will relay this to my colleagues," Shokhin said.
Kiev was also quick to submit their version of the conversation.
"Забирайтеся з Донбасу" не означає "забирайте Донбас", а зовсім навіть навпаки.
— Yevhen Perebyinis (@YPerebyinis) April 6, 2015
@Buzzing_Rook @YPerebyinis @InfoResist безмозглые схавают, да? порошенко на мови получается с путиным общается? ахахаха, тупейшая отмазка
— adsfasdf (@sim22232) April 6, 2015
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