MOSCOW, February 18./TASS/. Moscow regrets the refusal of its OSCE partners to support the Russia-initiated draft statement in favor of the implementation of the Minsk-2 accords, submitted ahead of the date marking six years after the signing of the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.
"We regret it that our initiative was declined in the OSCE, and we once again urge strict compliance with of all its [Package of Measures] provisions in their entirety and consistency," the diplomat said. "We will take into account the partners’ reaction to the Russian initiative when determining our position on the OSCE’s further role in resolving the crisis inside Ukraine," the diplomat said.
She expressed specific regrets over the refusal to support the draft statement coming from Russia’s Normandy format partners - Germany and France, as well as Sweden, holding the OSCE chairmanship.
"Within two rounds of consultations, Ukraine and Western countries tried to impose the wordings that would go outside the framework of the Package of Measures and the UN Security Council resolution, as a result of which the passing of the document was blocked," the diplomat noted.
"I would want to believe that there are no plans to dismantle the Minsk agreements and settle the problem of Donbass with the use of force behind this behavior. Our partners will have to prove this with deeds," Zakharova said.
Minsk Package of Measures
Peace settlement of the conflict in Donbass rests on the Package of Measures, known as Minsk-2, that was signed by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising senior representatives from Russia, Ukraine and the European security watchdog OSCE on February 12, 2015, after marathon 16-hour talks between the leaders of the Normandy Four nations, namely Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine. The 13-point document envisages a ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and people’s militias in the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Lugansk and subsequent withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of engagement. The deal also lays out a roadmap for a lasting settlement in Ukraine, including amnesty, resumption of economic ties, local elections and a constitutional reform to give more autonomy to the war-torn eastern regions.
The plan has remained unimplemented to this day, largely due to Ukraine’s stance: in defiance of the sequence of steps established under the Minsk Accords Kiev refuses to act on the political items of the agreement until security issues have been addressed.