TASHKENT, June 24. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin believes it would be absurd to expect Russia to take steps under the Minsk Accords that in reality Ukraine is expected to make.
He voiced this opinion of his in response to attempts to link the sanctions against Russia with the implementation of the Minsk-2 package of agreements on a settlement in Ukraine.
"These are the key issues of settling the situation in Donbass. Waiting for us to make decisions would be absurd. I’m lost for words," Putin said.
"Key issues of the implementation of the Minsk agreements are now in the hands of our Kiev partners, the Kiev authorities," he said. "We can do nothing without them. We cannot amend the Ukrainian constitution, we cannot enforce the law on special forms of government in certain territories. We cannot sign the law on amnesty for the Ukrainian president."
However, he stressed, Russia has been working and will work with both Ukraine and its partners in the European Union. "There is no way to settle the situation in Donbass other than to fully implement the Minsk agreements," Putin said.
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