KIEV, December 6. /TASS/. Former Ukrainian President and head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Contact Group for settlement in Donbass Leonid Kravchuk threatened Russia with new sanctions over the situation in the region. In an interview with Ukraine-24 TV channel on Saturday night, he admitted that a year after the Normandy Four summit in Paris, no significant progress has been reached during the negotiations in Minsk, so Kiev will be forced to change tactics.

Kravchuk stated that the main achievement over the past year has been the agreement on additional ceasefire control measures that entered into force on July 27. "There have been no other concrete steps towards peace. We talk for hours about different things, but we have not made any concrete decisions lately," he said.

"My opinion is this: if by the end of the year, nothing happens, then I think the beginning of the new year will be the beginning of our new understanding of the situation," Kravchuk said. According to him, new sanctions against Russia may be discussed. "These sanctions may be related to the international payment system," he continued. "We will ask for it and demand it. We will demand other sanctions as well."

On the outcomes of the Normandy Four summit held in Paris on December 9, 2019, the leaders named a comprehensive ceasefire, disengagement of forces and equipment, an "all for all" prisoner swap, agreeing to place new crossing points on the line of contact among emergency measures aimed to achieve Donbass regulation. Heads of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia spoke in support of enshrining the special procedure of local self-government in separate areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions and including the Steinmeier Formula approved by the Normandy Four and the Contact Group in the Ukrainian law. As of now, according to DPR and LPR representatives, Ukraine has not adhered to any of its obligations undertaken on the outcomes of the summit.

The Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements signed on February 12, 2015 is the basis for all Donbass peace negotiations. The Minsk Agreements include such measures as ceasefire, disengagement of forces and equipment, amnesty, reestablishment of economic ties, along with a deep constitutional reform in Ukraine, which should lead to the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions acquiring special status within Ukraine. However, so far, this plan remains unimplemented, due to the Ukrainian side refusing to comply with the political points of the agreement, citing unregulated security issues.