The president urges to more actively influence the
Ukrainian side, the Kremlin reports
MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a telephone conversation with German and French leaders Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, has drawn attention to the provocative nature of the Ukrainian troops’ actions in southeastern Ukraine. "Vladimir Putin drew attention to the provocative nature of the actions of the Ukrainian troops in southeastern Ukraine," the Kremlin press service reported. "In this regard, the Russian president urged his counterparts to more actively influence the Ukrainian side, including during the upcoming contacts with (Ukrainian President) Pyotr Poroshenko in Warsaw to ensure strict compliance with the Minsk agreements."
The three leaders noted the need to intensify
negotiations in various formats to ensure the full and comprehensive
implementation of the Minsk accords. "(They) pointed to the viability of
synchronizing efforts in the field of security and the political settlement,
which includes provision of a legislative framework for a special status of
Donbass on a permanent basis, Constitutional reform, amnesty and organization
of local elections," the Kremlin press service said. "They agreed to
continue consultations on the Ukrainian issue at various levels."
The leaders of the three countries also attach an
important role to the effective work of the OSCE special monitoring mission in
ensuring the truce in Ukraine. In a telephone conversation, the leaders of the
three countries "discussed the development of the Ukraine crisis. A
concern was expressed over the more frequent cases of truce breaches in Donbass
lately," the Kremlin press office said. They "emphasized the priority
of the task of preventing further degradation of the situation in the conflict
area and consistently implementing the accords on the pullout of heavy
armaments and mutual disengagement of the sides from the contact line. In this
process, an important role in ensuring the truce should be attached to the
effective work of the OSCE special monitoring mission."
The peaceful settlement in the Donbass region is based
on the so-called Minsk agreements signed by the Russian, German, French and
Ukrainian leaders in February 2015. They envisage not only a ceasefire, weapons
withdrawal, amnesty, restoration of economic ties but also a profound
Constitutional reform in Ukraine, which should lead to the decentralization of
power with due account for the need to grant a special administration status to
separate districts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions on a permanent basis.
However, this plan has not been executed to date. The
parties consistently violate the ceasefire in the Donbass region. The Ukrainian
side has completely abandoned the provision on amnesty and is pushing ahead
with the Donbass economic blockade. None of the provisions on the political
agreements has been implemented. The Constitutional reform has not been carried
out, the law on the region’s special status has not been enacted, the law on
elections in Donbass has not been passed.
Instead, the Ukrainian side delays the elections citing
the need to ensure safety and insists on the transfer of control over a section
of the border with Russia, even though, according to the Minsk accords, this
should be done after the elections.
Source: ITAR-TASS 09-07-2016
