Implementation of Minsk deal should be set in motion — Lavrov

MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/. Kiev seeks to delay the implementation of the Minsk agreements indefinitely, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday following talks with Luxembourg’s top diplomat Jean Asselborn.

"We are convinced of the need to break the impasse with the implementation of the Minsk accords," he said. "To do this, both Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk need to travel their part of the path and honor the commitments they undertook a year and a half ago."

"As far as our Ukrainian colleagues are concerned, we are working to ensure their compliance with the commitments on a Constitutional reform to enshrine in law on a permanent basis a special status for the Donbass region, amnesty and the organization of local elections in the DPR and LPR," the minister went on to say. "Of course, all this should be done through direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk within the Contact Group, and this is something Kiev has been trying to distance itself from recently."

"We briefed the minister (Jean Asselborn - TASS) and his delegation on the work within the Contact Group, within the ‘Normandy format’, where Russian, German and French representatives together with Ukrainian representatives are trying to ensure compliance with obligations in the area of political reforms in Ukraine," Lavrov noted.

"We are strongly convinced that Kiev’s policy to first ensure the full silence regime for at least one month and only then to start discussing the political aspects of the Minsk agreements is aimed at delaying the process indefinitely," the Russian foreign minister said. ""In response, we propose drawing up a parallel road map in accordance with which every step in reinforcing the security regime would be accompanied by a step on advancing political reforms, primarily in terms of the bills Kiev pledged to develop and pass.".