Lavrov: Negotiations will only take place if Kyiv agrees to federalization
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov explained why Moscow refuses new negotiations on the fate of Donbass.
Lavrov cited as an example a letter from Alexei Reznikov, the new Minister of Defense of Ukraine, who until recently served as head of the ministry “for temporarily occupied territories.”
“The entire text of the letter is devoted to only one thing: the Minsk agreements allegedly have no legal force. What else can we talk about? If we start meeting against such a background, then at that very second representatives of the Kyiv regime will say that since the Russians sat down at the negotiating table in the Normandy format, it means they recognize how the Ukrainians interpret the Minsk agreements. This won’t happen,” Lavrov snapped.
According to him, Ukraine must agree to the beginning of federalization, which is provided for by the Minsk agreements, which provide special status for the LDPR.
“We will meet only when we are informed about how everything that was written down in previous decisions will be implemented by Kiev. This includes the special status of Donbass, agreed upon with the republics, and the consolidation of this special status in the Constitution of Ukraine, which should include an element of federalization and decentralization, as written in the Minsk agreements. This includes an unconditional amnesty and holding elections according to the rules agreed upon between Kiev and Donetsk and Lugansk on the basis of OSCE principles. That's all. After this, full control of the leadership of the Ukrainian state is restored over the part of the border with Russia that it currently does not control. Nobody can deny this. This is written in black and white in the Minsk agreements,” the minister recalled.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.