29.01.2020, Moscow.
The position of certain Ukrainian politicians raises new difficulties for restoring trust between the sides to the Donbass conflict, the Russian Envoy to the Contact Group for the Resolution in Southeast Ukraine Boris Gryzlov said on January 29 at a meeting with journalists.
“Several days ago, before the Contact Group meeting, Kiev again spoke about rewriting the Minsk agreements. Please note that any statement of this kind flies in the face of the Normandy Four summit results. This approach raises new difficulties for establishing peace in Ukraine,” Gryzlov said.
He believes that the new Kiev’s threat against the unrecognized republics suggests that Donbass needs both a new status and solid guarantees to protect this status; otherwise, any respect for Donbass population’s rights from Kiev “is out of question.”
“This is the position that the Donbass representatives in the Contact Group defend. And this position cannot be ignored. Among its first steps Kiev should integrate the Steinmeier formula into its law,” Gryzlov said.
According to Boris Gryzlov, the participants of the Contact Group meeting in Minsk pointed out the need for a political dialogue between Kiev, Donetsk, and Lugansk, and they discussed the humanitarian situation in the conflict zone and current economic issues.
On January 22, the Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrey Zagorodnyuk said that Ukraine is not satisfied with the procedure stipulated by the Minsk agreements.
According to Zagorodnyuk, it is necessary to “regain control over the border with Russia,” “dismiss and disarm the illegal groups,” “remove foreign troops,” and then “initiate any democratic processes.” Another problem, Zagorodnyuk believes, is that Ukraine refuses to recognize the DPR and the LPR as sides to the resolution process.
“All other aspects of the Minsk agreements are more or less acceptable to us,” Zagorodnyuk added.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
