WASHINGTON, February 3. /TASS/. The statement by State Department spokesman, Ned Price, about the need for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements is a positive signal, the Russian Embassy in Washington announced on Facebook on Wednesday.
"We regard as a positive signal the statement by State Department spokesman Ned Price voiced on February 2 press-briefing on the need for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements," the Russian diplomats said.
"At the same time, we note the ongoing attempts to lay the blame on Russia and accuse us of undermining the agreements reached," they stressed.
The diplomats recalled that that Russia is not a party to the conflict and therefore the main task is to force the Ukrainian authorities to fulfill their obligations.
"The supply of American weapons to Ukrainian revenge-seekers only pushes them to a military solution of the problem with the South-East of the country," they added.
At a regular briefing for journalists on Wednesday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed that the United States insists on the full implementation of the Minsk agreements and still considers them a path to peace in the Donbass. As Price argued, one party to these agreements is responsible for the vast majority of [their] violations. The head of the press service specified that he meant Russia.
Donbass conflict and Minsk agreements
Russia has repeatedly stressed that it is not a party to the intra-Ukrainian conflict and consistently stands for the full and strict implementation of the Minsk agreements, which it signed as a mediator in the peace process.
Efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Donbass are based on the Minsk Agreements, which particularly include moves to declare a ceasefire, withdraw weapons, declare amnesty, restore economic ties and conduct constitutional reform in Ukraine through dialogue with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR), aimed at decentralizing power and providing a special status to certain districts in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. However, the negotiation process has actually stalled because of Kiev’s refusal to fulfill the political provisions of the Minsk accords. In particular, Kiev is reluctant to build any direct dialogue with the DPR and LPR and enshrine the region's special status in the constitution and demands to have control of Donbass’ border with Russia before the implementation of the political provisions of the accords. Meanwhile, under Paragraph Nine of the Package of Measures on the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, work to restore full control over the border should begin the next day after local elections take place and be completed only after a comprehensive political solution is found.
Russia at the highest level repeatedly declared its commitment to the Minsk agreements of 2015, which it considers to be the only tool for resolving the internal conflict in Ukraine.