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Developments in eastern Ukraine

Lavrov, Fabius say attempts to disrupt progress in Ukraine settlement should be countered

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the situation around Ukraine with French FM Laurent Fabius and German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) EPA/IAN LANGSDON

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R)

© EPA/IAN LANGSDON

MOSCOW, September 04. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian and French foreign ministers Sergei Lavrov and Laurent Fabius on Thursday said attempts to disrupt progress in the Ukrainian settlement should be countered.

“They specially stressed that an agreement on ceasefire, first of all the use of heavy armaments and aviation, should be reached immediately,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said after Lavrov and Fabius had a phone conversation.

"At the current responsible stage, it’s extremely necessary to counter attempts to disrupt the outlined progress in implementation of approaches which were discussed by the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, to prevent supporters of the military solution of the Ukrainian south-east’s problems from prevailing in Kiev and other capitals," the foreign ministers stressed.

Lavrov and Fabius express hope Putin’s peace plan will help work out common platform for fruitful work of contact group on Ukraine in Minsk.

Lavrov, Steinmeier praise direct contacts between Putin, Poroshenko

The Russian foreign minister and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday praised the direct contacts between Russian and Ukrainian Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko, for starting a dialogue between Kiev and south-east Ukraine.

In a telephone conversation, Lavrov and Steinmeier “provided support for the latest efforts to reach agreements on a ceasefire, the non-use of heavy arms and aviation between Kiev and militias”, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

“They stressed the need to avoid any actions that can wreck the positive tendencies,” the ministry said.

Stopping spiral of sanctions

Progress in Russia-Ukraine talks is indispensable to “stop the spiral of sanctions”, Steinmeier said on Thursday.

Earlier, Russia made it clear that the Ukrainian government and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics should sign agreements on a ceasefire in Ukraine. The Contact Group meeting may reach such agreement in Minsk on September 5.

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Foreign policy Ukraine Sergey Lavrov Russian Foreign Ministry France Eastern Ukraine Laurent Fabius

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