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Moscow concerned with build-up of Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbass — diplomat

Moscow hopes that Germany and France will be able to use their influence on Kiev to prevent a military scenario that may seriously destabilize the situation in the region

© EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

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MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/. The build-up of Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbass means that Kiev is preparing a military operation in the region, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday after the meeting of Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin with accredited ambassadors of France and Germany.

"At the meeting, main attention was paid to different aspects of intra-Ukrainian settlement," the foreign ministry said. "Russia said that against the backdrop of stalling negotiations process, Moscow is especially concerned with the build-up of Ukrainian Armed Forces and volunteer battalions at the contact line. Observers from SMM OSCE (Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) also note escalation of the situation. It is clear that Ukrainian forces are preparing a military operation," the ministry added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted the inadmissibility of such provocations by Ukraine that "may ‘cancel out’ the efforts, including in the ‘Normandy format’, made on peaceful settlement."

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Moscow hopes that German and French partners will be able to use their influence on Kiev to prevent a military scenario that may seriously destabilize the situation in the region, the ministry concluded.

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 Pyotr 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.

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