Contents tagged with Minsk agreements

  • German Foreign Minister calls for gradual lifting of sanctions against Russia

    On August 27, while answering questions from citizens on the government's open day, German Foreign Minister Zigmar Gabriel stated that he continues to advocate a gradual lifting of sanctions on Russia as it fulfills the Minsk agreements, Ukrinform reports.

    This is not the first time that Gabriel suggested that sanctions against Russia should be lifted gradually, without waiting for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. "If sanctions were gradually introduced, why can they not be …

  • Putin's Aide Surkov says after meeting with US envoy on Ukraine Volker that situation in the Donbas does not suit anyone

    The current situation in the Donbas does not suit either party to the conflict, nor the external forces that are facilitating the settlement, said Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov after a meeting with US State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker, reports Russian media.

    "We agreed that the current situation in the southeast of Ukraine cannot satisfy neither the conflicting parties, nor the external forces that are contributing to the resolution.

    The discussion …

  • US special representative for Ukraine Volker and Putin’s aide Surkov to meet in the end of August

    The meeting of US State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker and Russian Presidential Advisor Vladislav Surkov will take place in Moscow in the last two weeks of August, a diplomatic source told the Russian publication Izvestia.

    According to a source close to the Russian presidential administration, the parties will discuss matters relating to the resolution of the situation in Ukraine and the prevention of conflict escalation.

    “Moscow will present the facts which show …

  • Ukraine: pro-Russian separatists are testing a new kind of Multiple Rocket Launch system in the Donbas

    Pro-Russian separatists used a new type of weapon while shelling the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of Krasnohorivka in the Donetsk region on July 20, 2017. According to the Ukrainian contingent of the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC), they used a mobile, four-barrel rocket launcher system.

    "The Ukrainians of the JCCC received information on the illegal armed groups’ use of mobile four-barrel rocket launchers developed in 2015 by the so-called ‘Republican …

  • Russia opposes Ukraine's bill on reintegration of the Donbas

    Boris Gryzlov, the permanent representative of Russia to the Trilateral Contact Group, which was formed to facilitate the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine, said that the bill on the reintegration of the Donbas is an attempt to destroy the Minsk agreements.

    “At today's meeting of the contact group, the participants could not ignore the bill of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to reintegrate Donbass. According to the available information, this bill being worked …

  • German Foreign Minister: Russia must implement Minsk Agreements for sanctions to be lifted

    The head of the Foreign Ministry of Germany said that the main condition for the lifting of sanctions against Russia would be for Russia to implement the Minsk agreements, Espresso TV reported.

    "During his visit to St. Petersburg at the international economic forum that is taking place there on June 1-3, Foreign Minister of Germany Sigmar Gabriel discussed the situation in Ukraine with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin," the German media reports.

    During his meeting with …

  • Russia: Ukraine's banning of the St. George's ribbon will postpone the implementation of the Minsk agreements

    The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs belives that banning St. George's ribbon in Ukraine will postpone the implementation of the Minsk agreements. This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova at a briefing in Moscow, UNIAN reports.

    "Regarding the ban on the distribution and manufacture of St. George's Ribbons, you know perfectly well that this will not affect the Russian Federation in any way but it will have a huge negative impact on …

  • Poroshenko and Merkel discuss possible pressure on Russia to fulfill Minsk agreements

    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced that he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had discussed a possible scenario of putting pressure on Russia to fulfill its part of the Minsk agreements, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

    “A significant portion of time was devoted to the coordination of actions to implement the Minsk agreements. It was established that Russia is not fulfilling the Minsk agreements, and we have to develop a scenario which would motivate Russia to sit at the negotiation …

  • Germany: military parades in separatist republics violated the Minsk agreements

    Germany said that military parades in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) violated the Minsk agreements and represented a threat to the population of the region, Ukrinform news agency reports.

    The military parades were held in Donetsk and Luhansk on May 9. In the DPR, from 50 to 80 units of military equipment were involved while in the LPR more than 60 units of military equipment and weapons and 1,200 soldiers took part in the parade.

    The German government …

  • Lavrov accuses Head of Ukrainian National Security Council of refusing to comply with Minsk agreements

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that statements by the Secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, regarding the advance of Ukrainian troops to the east of the country indicate Kyiv's reluctance to fulfill the key points of the Minsk agreements.

    Earlier Turchynov told the BBC that the main task of the Ukrainian military is now "meter by meter, kilometer by kilometer, while minimizing losses, to move east."

    "Mr. Turchynov's statement means that Kyiv …