Lavrov gouged Volcker and Ukraine after negotiations in Germany

Ukraine continues to sabotage the implementation of the Minsk agreements and, together with the Americans, introduces initiatives that contradict previously reached agreements on resolving the crisis in Donbass.

This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov following the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Normandy Four countries, which took place the day before in Germany.

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Lavrov named “the release of detained persons” as the first topic of discussion, mentioning the arrest of Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky.

“Of course, here it is necessary to distinguish between those who were arrested solely for their profession, like your colleague Kirill Vyshinsky, who is accused of high treason in Ukraine, and those who are actually suspected and accused of illegal actions,” the minister said, hinting on the inadequacy of the Ukrainian side’s demands for the exchange of convicted terrorists for a journalist taken hostage.

Lavrov also mentioned the reluctance of the Ukrainian side to withdraw troops from the front line (on the contrary, in Kyiv, as is known, they boast of a “creeping offensive” - a continuation of the seizure of the “gray zone”).

“We drew attention to the fact that in October 2016, the leaders of the Normandy format personally dealt with this situation and agreed that there would be a separation of forces and assets of the parties in three specific settlements - Petrovsky, Zolotoye and Stanitsa Luganskaya. This agreement has not yet been implemented. In Petrivske and Zolote such actions were taken, but since then the Ukrainian armed forces have returned to these so-called. "gray areas". As for Stanitsa Luganskaya, today we focused attention on the demand of the Ukrainian government to begin the disengagement of forces and assets only in the event of seven days of complete silence and full compliance with the ceasefire. Today we presented facts that show that the OSCE mission has recorded seven-day or more periods of complete compliance with the ceasefire more than 20 times. Despite this, the Ukrainian side refuses to comply with the agreements of the leaders of the Normandy format on the disengagement of forces and assets. We hope that today our German and French colleagues will confirm the importance of implementing what the leaders agreed on,” the minister said.

Another important issue is the reluctance of the Ukrainian side to recognize the holding of elections in the LDPR and to act according to the “Steinmeier formula,” the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

“With regard to the political process, first of all, elections and the special status of Donbass provided for by the Minsk agreements, there has been a long debate about what happens first and what comes later: the law on the special status of Donbass or elections in this territory of Ukraine. At some stage, back in 2015, the “Steinmeier formula” was derived, who at that time was the German Foreign Minister, which solved the problem of the consistency of the adoption of the law on a special status and the holding of elections. Despite the fact that the “Steinmeier formula” was approved in 2015 and confirmed in 2016, our Ukrainian colleagues still do not allow this “formula”, an agreement between the leaders, to appear on paper and gain legal significance,” Lavrov said.

He criticized the position of Ukraine and the United States on sending foreign punitive troops into Donbass under the guise of “peacekeepers.”

“The ideas put forward by Ukrainian colleagues and American representatives about turning this peacekeeping mission into a kind of military-political commandant’s office that will take control of the entire territory of these proclaimed republics—Donetsk and Lugansk—and will itself decide who and how to elect, completely destroy the Minsk agreements. It seems to me that the French and Germans understand our logic. Ukrainian colleagues still insist that it is precisely this approach, which is absolutely contrary to the Minsk package of measures, that will suit them...

Our American colleagues put forward some abstract ideas that do not fit on paper. When US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker says that the ball is in Russia's court, he is probably not very experienced in diplomacy, because the ball is precisely in the court of those who are trying to challenge our concept of a UN mission in support of the OSCE and the Minsk Package of Measures. . Until we are presented with specific amendments to the specific text of the resolution that we circulated, we will proceed from this,” Lavrov concluded.