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Lavrov urges Kiev to stop making excuses for not implementing Minsk agreements

Minister noted that the constitutional consolidation of the special status of Donbass is the key to resolving the crisis in Ukraine

© Vitaly Belousov/POOL/TASS

MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. Ukraine needs to stop making excuses for not fulfilling their obligations under the Minsk agreements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Trud newspaper.

"The participants in the Normandy summit [Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine - TASS], including President [of Ukraine Vladimir] Zelensky, in Paris on December 9, 2019, unanimously supported the need for agreement between Kiev, Donetsk, and Lugansk on all legal aspects of the special status of Donbass in strict accordance with the provisions of the Minsk Package of Measures. It is time for our Ukrainian partners to stop fooling everyone, consistently coming up with excuses not to do anything in terms of fulfilling existing obligations," Lavrov said.

He recalled that the Minsk Agreements contain a provision on the need for constitutional reform in Ukraine, with the key element - decentralization, taking into account the peculiarities of certain areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions, agreed with representatives of these regions, as well as adoption of permanent legislation on their special status. "All this should have been reflected in the new Constitution of Ukraine, which, according to the same clause of the Minsk Agreements, was expected to enter into force before the end of 2015," the minister said.

Lavrov noted that the constitutional consolidation of the special status of Donbass is the key to resolving the crisis in Ukraine and sorting out security issues as well as socio-economic and humanitarian problems.

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