BERLIN, February 9. /TASS/. Germany and France should engage more resources for ensuring that Ukraine implements the key provisions of the Minsk agreements, Russia’s Ambassador to Berlin Sergey Nechayev said in an interview published by the German newspaper Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung on Wednesday.

"We are asking Paris and Berlin to be more assertive in urging Kiev to implement its obligations," Nechayev said adding that he did not believe the efforts in that area had been sufficient.

According to the diplomat, the Minsk agreements "list clearly all the measures, and there is no alternative."

"We see that Ukraine is not implementing the key points. In addition, we hear outlandish statements from Kiev that the Minsk process is allegedly dead and that there will never be a negotiated special status for Donbass," Nechayev added.

On Thursday, the Normandy Format talks involving political advisers will be held in Berlin.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Ukraine on February 14 and the next day will travel to Russia.

Minsk Agreements

The Minsk agreements are the cornerstone of peace in Donbass. The deal includes such measures as a ceasefire, the withdrawal of weapons, an amnesty, and the re-establishment of economic ties. It also envisages holding a constitutional reform in Ukraine based on dialogue with the People’s Republics in Donetsk and Lugansk (DPR and LPR respectively). The reform aims at decentralization, taking into account the special status of certain areas in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Nevertheless, the negotiation process has in fact reached an impasse due to Ukraine’s refusal to comply with the political clauses of the Minsk agreements. Kiev, in particular, rejects direct dialogue with the DPR and LPR, opposes enshrining the region’s special status in the constitution and insists on taking control of the border with Russia in Donbass before the political provisions are implemented, even though the logic of the Minsk peace deal is the opposite.