MOSCOW, July 09./ITAR-TASS/. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius stated in a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday, July 9, that the Kiev authorities were deviating from the agreement reached in Berlin on July 2, the Foreign Ministry said.

During the call initiated by the French minister, Fabius and Lavrov discussed “the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine”.

“The French minister placed the emphasis on the continuing deterioration of the situation in the south-eastern regions of the country and stated that the Kiev authorities were deviating in their practical actions from the agreements reached by the ministers of foreign affairs of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany in Berlin on July 2,” the ministry said.

Lavrov stressed that “Kiev has basically conditioned an ‘unconditional and mutually agreed lasting ceasefire’ on the militiamen’s compliance with a preliminary demand to disarm”.

The ministers stated their shared interest in further productive work of the contact group.