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Four-party meeting approves document on deescalation of tensions in Ukraine

The Geneva statement calls for national dialogue in Ukraine

© AP Photo/Jim Bourg, Pool

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GENEVA, April 16. /ITAR-TASS/. The Geneva statement adopted at a four-party meeting on Ukraine on Thursday, April 17, calls for a national dialogue in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after the talks.

“It calls for an immediate commencement of a broad national dialogue which must be inclusive, transparent and accountable,” he said.

Lavrov stressed that measures to disarm illegal armed groups and free seized buildings would apply to all regions of Ukraine without exception.

“The measures we have stated concern all regions of Ukraine without exception and all problematic questions without exception,” he said.

He said that decisions on Ukraine must be acceptable for all Ukrainians. “Decisions must be mutually acceptable for all Ukrainians as this is a guarantee of stability of the Ukrainian state with due regard for the linguistic peculiarities of different regions of the country,” he said.

The minister said Russia would support the work of the OSCE Monitoring Mission in Ukraine in order to foster dialogue between all sides involved in the conflict.

“We urge the special monitoring mission of the OSCE to play a leading role, in accordance with its mandate, in assisting Ukrainians and the Kiev authorities in carrying out measures to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine. We will support the work of this mission to foster dialogue between the sides in order to unblock the situation step by step,” Lavrov said.

“We have agreed to meet in different formats,” he added.

A four-party meeting on Ukraine with Russia, the United States and the European Union was held in Geneva on April 17.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and the parliament-appointed Ukrainian acting Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia took part in the meeting.

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