Alexander Orlov, the
Russian ambassador to France said that the Russian and French governments are
actively working to find a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian conflict within
the framework established at the initiative of French President Francois
Hollande, the so-called Normandy format, which encompasses France, Germany,
Russia and Ukraine.
PARIS
(Sputnik) – The French and Russian authorities have made different assessments
of the causes of the Ukrainian crisis, but both states proceed
from the assumption that Donbass should be granted a special status
on a permanent basis, the Russian ambassador to France said Thursday.
"We differently assess the causes and driving
forces of the Ukrainian crisis. It seems to me that in France
and, in general, in the West, they do not fully understand its inner
springs and do not want to admit that Crimea’s secession and the uprising
in Donbass were a natural and forced response of the Russian and
Russian-speaking population of Ukraine to the unconstitutional ascent
to power in Kiev of Ukrainian nationalist forces," Alexander
Orlov told RIA Novosti in an interview.
"Both in Moscow and in Paris, as far
as I know, they proceed from the assumption that Donbass should
receive a special status, on a permanent, guaranteed basis
in accordance with the Minsk agreements, approved by the UN
Security Council resolution," the ambassador stressed.
In February 2015, the Normandy quartet's leaders brokered the Minsk peace deal, later signed by representatives of Kiev and the eastern Ukrainian militias. The Minsk agreements stipulate a ceasefire, weapons withdrawals from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, constitutional reforms to decentralize power in the country, and the granting of a special status to the Donbas region.
The sides failed to fulfill the agreements by the
end of 2015, as initially intended. The Normandy Quartet agreed
to extend its deadline for completion into the current year.
Source: Sputnik News 11-02-2016
