West Preparing Plan B in Event of Minsk Agreement’s Failure

Andreas Umland argued that provisions of the Minsk Agreement are unlikely to be implemented until the end of 2015 and that reintegration of Donbass into Ukraine is rather improbable.

Merkel and Hollande are trying to convince Poroshenko to fully implement the Minsk Agreement, but at the same time they should be preparing a plan "B" in case if Ukraine fails to implement the provisions, German political expert Andreas Umland stated in an interview with TV channel 112-Ukraine.

"I think Western politicians and experts are already thinking of what to do if the Minsk Agreement is not implemented and what a plan B in this case will be," Umland said.

According to him, the problem is that the Minsk Agreement is being interpreted differently by Ukraine on the one hand, and Germany and the West, on the other.

Western countries want Ukraine to fulfill its part of obligations as fully as possible so that they could maintain sanctions against Russia and justify them in front of their electorate. The sanctions are becoming increasingly unpopular among European residents and heavily affect Western entrepreneurs.

Western leaders will demand from Poroshenko the implementation of the Minsk Agreement and corresponding reforms, Umland stated.

Earlier this week, Poroshenko met with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin to discuss the resolution of the conflict in Donbass.