MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/. Russia is calling on its Normandy Four partners to stimulate Ukrainian authorities to promptly implement all provisions of the Minsk Agreements in good faith, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued to commemorate five years since the agreements were signed.
"The Russian side supports complete and consistent implementation of all provisions of the Package of Measures. We support efforts of our Normandy Four partners as well as the OSCE as the [Trilateral] Contact group coordinator and urge them to stimulate Ukrainian authorities to promptly honor all its obligations in good faith," the ministry underlined.
The diplomatic agency lamented the fact that no article of the Package of Measures has been fully implemented yet. "In spite of repeatedly declared ceasefires, complete cessation of hostilities has not been achieved yet. Shelling continues along the line of contact, while military hardware has not been withdrawn. Donbass is yet to be granted a special status, and an amnesty has not been carried out," the ministry said.
Moscow emphasized that latest decisions of the Normandy Four summit in Paris are also not implemented as quickly as they could be. "It is primarily about political issues. We are seeing the Ukrainian side brazenly imitating the process without even a thought about direct dialogue with Donbass," the ministry noted. "Other political aspects of the Minsk Agreements are also not translating into reality — a constitutional reform and determination of modality behind local elections. [Ukrainian President] Vladimir Zelensky’s election promises regarding easing of economic and transport blockade of the self-proclaimed republics also seem to have been forgotten."
The Russian diplomatic agency underscored that the settlement process is also complicated by Ukraine’s aggressive rhetoric, calls to revisit the Minsk Agreements, "ideas to invite an international occupation administration to Donbass disguised as a UN peacekeeping mission as well as Kiev’s lawmaking, particularly bills on Donbass reintegration, education, state language, draft bill on a new administrative and territorial makeup which they are trying to pass as honoring obligations to introduce decentralization."
"It even came down to the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigations opening criminal proceedings into possible treason committed by former President Pyotr Poroshenko when signing the Package of Measures. It is unclear whether these are elements of domestic political wrangling or attempts to challenge the Minsk Agreements. In any case, revising them will have unpredictable ramifications for the broader domestic Ukrainian settlement," the ministry warned.