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Russia stands for complete implementation of Minsk agreements on Ukrainian settlement

UNITED NATIONS, March 31. /TASS/. The complex of measures to implement the Minsk agreements that was adopted in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on February 12 is a cornerstone for the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict and must be fully implemented, Vladimir Safronkov, a deputy Russian Permanent Representative at the United Nations, said at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday.

He said the Security Council had paid due attention to the "tragic situation in Ukraine’ in March. "In this connection, we would like to stress that the complex of measures adopted on February 12 and endorsed by Security Council resolution 2202 remains a cornerstone of settlement. It ought to be implemented in full," the Russian diplomat said.

The Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE adopted a memorandum on September 19, 2014 in Minsk. The document outlined the parameters for the implementation of commitments on ceasefire in Ukraine laid down in the Minsk Protocol of September 5, 2014. The nine-point memorandum in particular envisioned a ban on the use of all armaments and withdrawal of weapons with the calibers of over 100 millimeters to a distance of 15 kilometers from the contact line from each side. The OSCE was tasked with controlling the implementation of memorandum provisions.

Marathon talks between the Normandy Four leaders - Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko - and a meeting of the Contact Group in Minsk on February 12 yielded a package of agreements, which in particular envisaged ceasefire between the Ukrainian conflicting sides starting from midnight on February 15.

The package of measures envisages the pullback of all heavy weapons by both parties to locations equidistant from the disengagement line and other measures to achieve lasting political settlement of the conflict.

The Minsk agreements were endorsed by United Nations Security Council resolution 2202 on February 17. The Russia-initiated document calls on all parties to ensure complete fulfilment of the complex of measures, including the comprehensive ceasefire.

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