MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/. Ukraine’s authorities have twice tried to resolve the Donbass problem by force and there are no guarantees they will not venture it again, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday after talks with his visiting French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.
"Ukrainian authorities have made two attempts to resolve the Donbass problem by force. Following another failure, the Minsk agreements were reached and they were backed by a United Nations Security Council resolution. Well, will they implement them or not? Or will the venture another such attempt? They have tried to do it twice. Are there any guarantees that the third attempt will not follow?" Putin said.
"Ukraine’s leader one day say they will implement the Minsk agreement and anathematize them on the following day, saying they will never do it because it will ruin Ukraine’s statehood," Putin noted.
The Russian leader thanked his French counterpart for raising these issues at the talks in Moscow. "These are issues of not only Russia’s security, but of the security of the entire world, entire Europe," Putin stressed.
He recalled that from Moscow Macron will head for Kiev for talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. "He shared his plan of further work in this area. I am very thankful to him that he spends so much time on it and is trying to find a solutions to this important problem," he added.