BERLIN, November 6. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday he hoped escalation of violence in Donbas will ultimately be stopped.
"There is certain escalation of the situation in the sphere of security. The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) has reported shelling from both sides, violations of weapons withdrawal liabilities also from both sides," Lavrov said after a meeting with his Normandy Four counterparts (foreign ministers of Germany, France and Ukraine) in the German capital city of Berlin.
"We actively support the OSCE SMM in its efforts to cut short occasional violations," he said. "I hope very much that escalation will be stopped."
The Russian foreign minister also noted that OSCE SMM’s reports did not rule out that outbursts of violence might be linked with the nationalists plans to send a signal to the Ukrainian government.
Minsk agreements to remain in force until they are fully implemented
According to the minister the Minsk agreements will remain in force until they are fully implemented.
"There is no doubt that the Minsk agreements will remain in force until they are fully implemented. The fact that Ukraine should prepare the text of a law on elections in Donbas and the fact that it will take 90 days to hold the elections after Ukraine eventually adopts this law makes it clear that we will be unable to do that before the year’s end and will have to extend the Minsk-2 process into the next year," Lavrov said.
He noted that the Normandy Four leaders had paid great attention to Ukraine’s political reform at their last meeting in Paris on October 2.
It concerns, in the first place, a law on local elections in Donbas, amnesty and local reform that defines the region’s special status.
"We will send signals in strict compliance with the Minsk-2 package of measures adopted on February 12 to ensure that all aspects of the settlement be included in the agenda and be implemented," Lavrov emphasized.
Humanitarian situation in Donbas is not improving
Lavrov noted the Normandy Four foreign ministers agree that the humanitarian situation in Donbas is not improving.
"We paid much attention to the humanitarian situation in Donbas, especially to the problem of ongoing blockade," he said. "There are few crossing points, which adversely impacts the sphere of social services."
"All this creates a difficult humanitarian situation, and all this repeats the report of the European human rights commissioner which tells about problems created by Ukrainian authorities," Lavrov noted.
The Russian foreign minister called on the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics (DPR and LPR) to cooperate with international humanitarian organizations.
"There is common agreement that humanitarian organizations, which are ready to work in Donbas, should be granted such possibility," Lavrov said. "We call on the DPR and LPR authorities to continue to agree with the United Nations humanitarian organizations, with non-government organization, which are helping the population, on the formats of such work."