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MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. The implementation of the Minsk Agreements is possible if Washington links Kiev’s efforts with providing Ukraine multi-billion loans, Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.
Media earlier reported, citing Ukrainian presidential press service, that US President Barack Obama confirmed his readiness to provide the third tranche worth $1 billion to Ukraine after the government is formed in the country.
"That is the answer to the question on when the Minsk Agreements will be implemented - when Washington starts to link providing multi-billion tranches with Kiev’s fulfillment of its commitments in accordance with the document," Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page.
The Minsk accords were signed on 12 February 2015, after negotiations in the so-called "Normandy format" in the Belarusian capital Minsk, bringing together Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The package of measures envisages ceasefire, weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local election in Donbass, constitutional reform in Ukraine and establishing working sub-groups on security, political, economy and humanitarian components of the Minsk accords.