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Normalization with Ukraine possible only upon change of power — senior Russian senator

Konstantin Kosachev stressed that Ukraine should be forced to fulfill its commitments under the Minsk agreements

MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/. Any normalization could occur between Russia and Ukraine only after a change of power in Ukraine, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council (upper house of Russia’s parliament) Konstantin Kosachev told aif.ru.

"I do not expect anything good from the current Kiev regime. They are trapped in their own previous actions and ideology. They have no freedom of maneuver. I believe, any potential normalization could take place only after a change of power in Ukraine. Hopefully, it [the process] will be constitutional next time," Kosachev said in an interview published on Monday.

The senior Russian senator stressed that Ukraine should be forced to fulfill its commitments under the Minsk agreements, despite the fact that those had become invalid in the form they were concluded in 2014 and 2015.

"However, the principle they are based on is still relevant - that there is no military solution to the internal conflict in Ukraine which should be resolved politically through dialogue between the government and its people," Kosachev added.

Residents in the Odessa, the Dnepropetrovsk and other Ukrainian regions may change their status, if the authorities keep treating them as terrorists or separatists and refuse to engage in dialogue, Kosachev warned. "So much could change if Kiev stopped speaking the language of power with them," he concluded.