MOSCOW, April 24. /ITAR-TASS/. The Kiev authorities should make the first step toward national reconciliation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

The authorities in Kiev should take into account the regions’ demands and establish a dialogue, Lavrov added.

The foreign minister noted that over the last months the illegal militant groups were not disarmed. On the contrary, the Kiev authorities started to rely more upon them. This, in turn, triggered the aggravation of the situation in the south-east of the country, Lavrov emphasized.

“The agreement of February 21 was broken next day in the state coup. After that, it became obvious that those who came to power were not able to bring everything to order in Kiev and in the country, to control extremists,” Lavrov said. “Illegal militant groups were not disarmed, as was stipulated in the February 21 agreement. On the contrary, they (Kiev authorities) relied on these groups that controlled the situation in the country and indulged the Right Sector,” the foreign minister added.

“What is now happening in Sloviansk, what happened overnight in Mariupol – these are the results of the irresponsible policy that relies upon ultranationalist, extremist, Neo-Nazi groups which should have been disarmed in accordance with the February 21 agreements,” Lavrov said.