VIENNA, February 25. /TASS/. Russia thinks that Kiev’s foreign partners should use their opportunities to stop the preparations of the Ukrainian army for a possible military provocation in Donbass, Konstantin Gavrilov, head of the Russian delegation to the Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control in Vienna, said on Wednesday during a session of the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation.
The Russian diplomat has called on Ukraine’s foreign partners to influence the Ukrainian leadership, encouraging it to take practical steps in the interest of peace and civil accord with the aim to implement the Minsk Package of Measures based on direct dialogue between Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk. "Kiev can have no other counteragents within domestic Ukrainian regulation," Gavrilov said.
"It would be right if foreign colleagues use additional opportunities to stop the preparations of the Ukrainian government and army for a possible new military adventure. This will serve as direct proof of their commitment to peace in Ukraine and stabilization in the sphere of European security," the Russian diplomat stressed in a statement.
Gavrilov noted that for seven years running, Kiev’s Western partners have not striven to aid a real end of hostilities and political regulation of the crisis. "On the contrary, they essentially give the green light to Kiev to commit war crimes in eastern Ukraine, incite further armed violence, train the Ukrainian army, pumping it full of arms and equipment which then appears in the armed conflict zone. This does not contribute to the de-escalation of military tensions that Western partners are regularly calling for, and supports "the party of war" in Kiev instead," he stated.
The diplomat also reminded of the suffering of millions of Ukrainian civilian residents due to the armed conflict in Donbass. "It is lamentable that the situation on the line of contact remains difficult to this day. The command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces continues to set the course for further escalation. The Kiev government demonstrates in practice that the Minsk Agreements on conflict regulation are nothing but a crumpled up piece of paper to them. And all this happens with silent approval of Western curators," Gavrilov noted.