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Russia hails US intention to halt Kiev’s sabotage of Minsk accords — top diplomat

The full implementation of the Minsk accords remains equally important as broader security safeguards, clarity and predictability in relations between Russia and NATO, Sergey Lavrov noted

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Moscow will only welcome the US intention to put an end to Kiev’s sabotage of the Minsk agreements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the RT TV channel on Wednesday.

The top diplomat also noted that the US, at different levels starting with the Geneva summit, expressed its interest in facilitating the implementation of the Minsk accords without undermining the Normandy format. "Let us hope. If the US is aware of the need to put an end to the open sabotage by the Kiev leadership <…> then we will only be glad."

Lavrov recalled that US President Joe Biden in Geneva told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about similar intentions, stressing the need to grant Donbass a special status under the Minsk accords. Some representatives of the US Department of State, headed by Antony Blinken, also stuck to the same approach.

The Russian foreign minister also pointed to some political scientists’ attempts to speculate about a possible exchange between Moscow and the West relating to the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the Russian security safeguard proposals. "For us, both issues are crucial. The full implementation of the Minsk accords, in particular <…> ensuring the rights of national minorities, as stated in the Ukrainian Constitution and in the European conventions <…>, [remains equally important as] broader security safeguards, clarity and predictability in relations between Russia and NATO," Lavrov insisted.