Fokin's statement at odds with official state positions - President's Office

The office of President Volodymyr Zelensky is "unpleasantly amazed" by the position of first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG Vitold Fokin, who said that he did not see Russia's war against Ukraine in the Donbas. This is said in a statement by the Office of the President.

"We are unpleasantly amazed at the personal judgments and comments that were given by first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group Vitold Fokin in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine at a meeting of the Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning. It is obvious that everyone who represents the state should always remember that the official should not be confused with the personal. If there are differences in positions, and your own vision, whatever it may be, differs from the state one, you need to choose the state as long as you represent the state. Not a personal, but a state vision. Moreover, the official position of Ukraine fully coincides with the objective reality and political truth. It was with the Russian invasion that the temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol and certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine began. It is this state that completely controls the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and has a decisive influence on everything that happens there. These are quite obvious truths", - the President's Office noted.

The statement emphasizes that the work of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG has always been based on the full sense of Ukraine's national interests and the absolute truth about the war and who is who in this war.

"The personal opinion of each of the representatives of Ukraine not only never interfered with the negotiations, but also did not contradict the official position of the state, our fundamental imperatives and the tasks that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set for the delegation. Surely, the statements of Vitold Fokin, which categorically differ from the official positions of the state, have already been properly assessed. First of all, by the society that had paid too much for its ideals. This should be understood", - Zelensky' people noted.

The Office of the President also emphasized that the goal of the state and its representatives is to achieve sustainable peace only on Ukrainian terms. Namely: an absolute and long-term ceasefire in the Donbass, release of all detainees, withdrawal of all illegal armed formations and military equipment from the territory of Ukraine, complete de-occupation and return of Ukraine's control over the border with Russia. For this, our delegation is working in the Trilateral Contact Group.