MOSCOW, June 01. /ITAR-TASS/. The foreign ministers of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine have agreed on a four-party declaration that welcomes the Russian initiative on placing Ukrainian border guards and OSCE observers at three checkpoints to the Russian territory, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
“Late at night on June 30, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks on the telephone with Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in continuation of the four-party telephone conference that had taken place earlier between the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine,” the foreign ministry said.
“(The parties) agreed on a quadrilateral declaration that welcomed Russia’s initiative on placing Ukrainian border guards and OSCE observers at three checkpoints on the Russian territory to control the situation on the border. The support was expressed towards organizing direct contacts between border control services of Russia and Ukraine and towards making a decision on observers at an OSCE session,” the ministry added.
“At the last moment, the Ukrainian side has refused to publish the document, saying it is ready to undertake this step only after an unconditional bilateral ceasefire. Such a step made by Kiev is regrettable, as the four-party declaration was aimed precisely at influencing the sides in the interests of the soonest agreement in the contact group. Moreover, the Ukrainian side demanded in a form of an ultimatum to convene the contact group on the Russian territory, and not in Donetsk, where earlier sessions took place,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.