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Germany notes doubts on Kiev readiness to implement Minsk deal

"The chancellor should ask Poroshenko a few questions connected with implementation of the Minsk agreements," member of Germany’s parliament said
Gernot Erler EPA/OLIVER BERG
Gernot Erler
© EPA/OLIVER BERG

BERLIN, May 13. /TASS/. Ukraine should make more efforts to implement ceasefire agreements reached in Minsk, Belarus, in February, a senior German official said on Wednesday.

Gernot Erler, a member of Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag and holding the title of Government Co-ordinator for Relations with Russia, was speaking to German television channel Phoenix ahead of talks between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Berlin.

"The chancellor should ask Poroshenko a few questions connected with implementation of the Minsk agreements," Erler said.

"Unfortunately, some doubts have crept in over past weeks that Ukraine is also 100% ready to implement and observe all 13 points, adopted on February 12 this year," he said, noting that German politicians were "concerned about belligerent rhetoric" from Kiev authorities. "At present, it seems Russia is not interested" in deterioration of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Erler added.

The 13-point peace deal struck in the Belarusian capital by leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France envisaged a ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and people’s militias starting from February 15.

This was to be followed by withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of military engagement by at least 15 kilometres (9 miles), prisoner release and agreement for international observers to monitor the truce.

Based on September’s stillborn Minsk peace protocol, the deal also laid out a road map for a lasting settlement in Ukraine, including local elections and constitutional reform to give the war-torn eastern regions more autonomy.