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Kiev capitalizes on issue of Donbass to economically hurt Russia — diplomat

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman recalled Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's words that his country needs the Minsk Agreements only to keep up anti-Russian sanctions

Spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

Spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova

© Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, December 31. /TASS/. Speculations of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky about the Minsk Agreements prove that Kiev wants to inflict economic damage on Russia rather than settle the Donbass conflict, Spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said in a statement Thursday.

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"Kiev is incessantly talking about the alleged incompetence of the Package of Measures and the need to revisit it. <…> President Vladimir Zelensky was the most outspoken as he said that Ukraine only needs the Minsk Agreements to keep up anti-Russian sanctions. It turns out that it is not the hypocritically declared achievement of peace and stability in the country that matters to Kiev the most but rather it seeks to brazenly capitalize on the issue of the unresolved conflict, abusing it to economically hurt Russia and attract Western aid to save the collapsing economy of Ukraine," Zakharova noted.

In light of this, Moscow is urging Kiev to "stop engaging in demagogy" and start realizing the Package of Measures for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements in full and consistently. "Unfortunately, instead of taking practical steps to fulfil obligations assumed under the Minsk Agreements Ukraine is seeking to ignore them in every way, giving the impression of active movement towards the Donbass settlement," the comment reads.

Zelensky recently had an interview with Focus magazine in which he noted that Ukraine cannot exit the Minsk Agreements because they are tied to sanctions against Russia. However, he added that he would personally withdraw from the agreements that are considered the cornerstone in the Donbass conflict settlement.

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