MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. There is no alternative to the Minsk Accords and all other options are pushing the situation into greater deadlocks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
"This is the only groundwork shared by everyone ― by the warring sides, meaning the Kiev government and Donbass, and by the parties acting as guarantors of these agreements, meaning other countries of the Normandy Four format including Russia," Peskov told Mir TV channel.
He pointed to the absence of any other documents, and that is why "we don’t have any alternative to fulfilling the Minsk Accords in the sequence and scope specified by the state."
"You’re surely aware of the attempt to redefine, reinterpret or change the sequence of steps that have been taken throughout this year," Peskov said. "All of this pushes the situation into a still greater deadlock."
He said the Minsk Accords remained unimplemented in a very big measure because "Kiev (government) is either unwilling or unable to fulfill them."
Specifically, Peskov pointed out continuing provocations along the line of contact, which separates the armed units of the warring sides in Donbass. "We know the sides are accusing each other of these provocations and this doesn’t facilitate the rise of an atmosphere conducive to a solution," he said.
"Russian president supports the Normandy format and he has said on many occasions it is important to continue efforts in this format," he said. "But still certain achievements should somehow be registered at the highest level, while now we can see a very substantial deficit of achievements as regards the settling of the Ukrainian conflict."
"The only way to begin movement towards peace settlement is to make Kiev get down to fulfilling the Minsk accords," Peskov said.
"We strongly disagree with some of our partners when they come up with the claims Moscow should make some moves towards the objectives of the Minsk accords, since Moscow isn’t a party to the conflict and it’s a duty for Donbass and Kiev to fulfill (provisions of) the accords," he said.
"That’s why we’re in a process of expectation," Peskov indicated. "Russia maintains active engagement in the Minsk meetings of the Ukraine Contact Group at the expert level."