MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. Moscow rejects accusations of freezing the conflict in Ukraine, these are attempts to shift the blame on someone else, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.
"Russia is interested in resolving the conflict close to its borders more than anyone else, despite the fact that from time to time you hear statements that we allegedly want to protract this conflict preserving it in such a frozen state forever," the minister said speaking during the Potsdam Meetings at the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund. "These are attempts to shift the blame on someone else."
He drew attention to the need to make vigorous efforts to restore mutual trust, which has been seriously undermined due to the Ukrainian crisis.
"All of us agree that the speedy and full implementation of the Minsk agreements remains on the table. Under these accords, Kiev assumed specific obligations to grant special status to the Donbass region, enshrining this in Ukraine’s Constitution, to pass the law on amnesty and to hold local elections," Lavrov noted.
"I emphasize that we are talking about basic European standards providing for citizens’ right to local self-government and unhampered use of their mother tongue," he added.