MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/. Kremlin expects progress in the implementation of the accords reached in Minsk in February 2015 upon the end of a summit of Russian, German, French, and Ukrainian leaders in the Normandy Four format, which has been scheduled for Friday, October 2, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
"There's only one thing we expect, namely, that some kind of progress in terms of implementation of the Minsk accords will be made," he said answering a question on what Moscow expected from Friday's meeting in Paris.
Minsk-2 accords have precisely specified deadlines and prioritize some or other actions.
"Along with the agreements that give grounds for definite optimism, we’re still stating a certain stalemate in the implementation of the Minsk accords," Peskov said. "There’s a hope that we’ll manage somehow to assure proper action under the Minsk accords, which don’t allow of misinterpretations or dual reading, as President Putin said today."
Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Russian human rights activists earlier on the same day the law on a special status of the separate territories in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, which never took effect in Ukraine, was one of the instances of Kiev’s non-compliance with the Minsk accords.
"The main thing is to put the law into effect and to sign it is a matter of secondary importance," Peskov said. "Whether or not this will require signing or any other actions is Ukraine’s internal affair. It must adopt this law."
Along with it, he gave a negative answer when asked if Moscow thought this was the main stumbling block to the Minsk process.
"It’s just enough to read the Minsk accords, which stipulate an amnesty, elections and so on," Peskov said. "Everything is spelt out there and everything should be coordinated with Donbass representatives."
When a reporter asked him for a comment on Wednesday’s report that the Ukrainian President, Pyotr Poroshenko, the German Federal Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French President, Francois Hollande, had coordinated their positions ahead of the Friday meeting in the Normandy Four format, Peskov said he did not have any information about it.