MOSCOW, March 4 /TASS/. The foreign ministers of Russia and Germany, Sergey Lavrov and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, have agreed on the need to accelerate the creation of the working mechanisms of the Contact Group on Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
In a telephone conversation, Lavrov and Steinmeier noted the progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements by the conflicting parties. "Further progress in stabilizing the situation in the country depends, in a very large measure, on the comprehensive compliance by Kiev, Luhansk and Donetsk with the ceasefire agreements and the competition of heavy weapons withdrawal to the agreed distance from the line of contact", the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The two diplomats pointed to the need for continued efforts by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to ensure effective control over the implementation of the Minsk agreements and monitoring of this process by the international community.
The foreign ministers of Russia and Germany paid special attention to the task of fully implementing the agreements reached in the Belarusian capital on February 12, including amnesties, preparation of local elections, and provision of a special status for the relevant areas of Donbass within the framework of a mutually acceptable constitutional reform.
Lavrov and Steinmeier reached an agreement on the need to accelerate the creation of the Contact Group working mechanisms, in accordance with the provisions of the February 12 agreements.
They also discussed practical issues related to the preparation for the meeting of the "Normandy Quartet" Foreign Ministers due to take place in Berlin on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.