KIEV, November 18. /TASS/. The Geneva talks on resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine are “one of the most acceptable” formats, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on Tuesday at the meeting with the German foreign minister.
“We consider that the Geneva format is the most acceptable one to settle the crisis in Ukraine despite many tested formats, both unilateral and multilateral,” Yatsenyuk said, praising the role of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Frank-Walter Steinmeier in an effort to resolve the conflict.
At talks with the Ukrainian prime minister, Steinmeier said although the Minsk format of negotiations on the Ukrainian crisis is not “flawless” but this is a basis “on which we can rely.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow doubts whether a new political conference on Ukraine is needed, stressing that the Minsk peace process is the only format for today which allows a “direct dialogue” between Kiev and the southeast.
The Russian foreign minister stressed that the both Russia and Belarus call on the sides to comply with the agreements reached in Minsk, adding that there is no other way to resolve the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week in an interview with German TV channel ARD that the Minsk agreements were reached only after Moscow became actively involved in the settlement process, but the agreements are not being implemented in full.
The parties to the Ukrainian conflict agreed on a ceasefire at talks mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on September 5 in Belarusian capital Minsk. The ceasefire took effect the same day but has reportedly occasionally been violated.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the OSCE has repeatedly ignored data on military preparations and concentration of Ukrainian forces along the contact line which comes in violation of the Minsk agreements.