Vladislav Surkov answers four questions about Russia's special operation in Ukraine

Vladislav Surkov, former assistant to the President of Russia, gave an interview devoted to the special military operation in Ukraine to Alexei Chesnakov, the Director of the Centre for Political Conjuncture.

Surkov's answers to questions in the interview turned out to be "da, da, net, da" (yes, yes, no, yes) — an election slogan from the 1990s.

The interview was published in Chesnakov's Telegram channel.

The questions and answers were as follows:

"A year ago, a week before the start of the special military operation, you predicted that Russia would expand its western borders. Are you satisfied with how it's been done?"

"YES."

"Do you think that the actions of our army are effective?"

"YES."

"When working on the Minsk agreements, did you proceed from the fact that they must be implemented?"

"NO."

"Will relations between Russia and the West go back to normal in the foreseeable future?"

"YES."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Vladislav Surkov's remarks, who said that when working on the Minsk agreements, he did not initially proceed from the fact that they must be implemented. According to Peskov, Russia's key goal was to force Kyiv to fulfill its obligations.

The Minsk agreements provided for a phased series of steps towards resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine. They stipulated measures to pull back troops from the line of contact, legal approval of the special status of certain territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, restoration of Ukraine's control over the state border, and a constitutional reform in Ukraine.

In September 2013, Vladislav Surkov became an assistant to the President of Russia and headed the department for cooperation with the CIS. Minsk I and Minsk II treaties were concluded with his direct participation (in 2014 and in 2015 respectively). After 2014, Surkov was dealing with issues of relations with Kyiv and the settlement of the conflict in the Donbass. Surkov left the post of assistant to the president in February 2020.

"Yes-yes-no-yes” is a slogan that appeared during the preparation of the 1993 All-Russian referendum. At the referendum, the Russians were offered to answer four questions:

• Do you trust President Boris Yeltsin?
• Do you approve of socio-economic policies of the president and the government?
• Are early presidential elections necessary?
• Are early elections of people's deputies necessary?

The slogan was widely advertised in the media and became a meme. It called on Yeltsin's supporters to answer "yes-yes-no-yes” to the above-mentioned questions.