Ukraine calls on the West to increase pressure on Russia to implement the Minsk Agreements
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is deeply concerned about the severe deterioration of the security situation in eastern Ukraine.
“We appeal to our international partners to strengthen political and diplomatic pressure on the Kremlin to stop the dangerous escalation of tension in the Donbas,” reported the statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The statement noted that Ukraine strictly adheres to its commitments; will continue to do everything possible to ensure that people are no longer killed in the Donbas; and will restore peace, constitutional order and respect for human rights in the temporarily occupied territories.
“We demand that the Russian Federation, as party to the Minsk agreements, urgently fulfill its obligations to withdraw military, mercenaries and weapons from the Donbas territory; to stop the illegal deliveries of weapons and military equipment to militants; and to unblock the work of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (SMM OSCE),” the Ministry stated.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry noted that, in 2016 from July 22 to July 24, separatists supported by the Russian Federation fired 189 times at Ukrainian military positions. “The defiant supply of weapons continues; [these weapons] must be removed from the demarcation line under the Minsk agreements,” the Foreign Ministry stressed.
In addition, in Novozvanivka, Trudivs’ke and Avdiivka six clashes occurred, resulting in losses among Ukrainian personnel.
“A deliberate escalation of the security situation is occurring on the background of massive deliveries of military equipment, weapons and ammunition. New mercenaries and military personnel from the Russian army are being sent to the Donbas,” the statement noted.
The Foreign Ministry also gave a clear opinion regarding the intimidation of observers from the Special Monitoring Mission of OSCE in Ukraine.
“It is clear that the thesis of the supposedly ‘domestic’ nature of the conflict in the Donbas, which Moscow is actively trying to impose on the international community, is the Russian Federation’s attempt to distract attention, in any way, from its true role as an organizer of and direct participant in this conflict,” the statement reads.