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International community should put pressure on Kiev, not Russia — Deputy Foreign Minister

To normalize the situation politicians must pay attention to those of “the party of war” in Kiev and make them comply with the Minsk agreements, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov says

MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. The international community should put pressure on “the party of war” in Kiev, but not impose sanctions against Russia, to settle the Ukrainian crisis, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.

When asked by TASS what Russia's partners should do in connection with the aggravation of the situation in Donbas, Ryabkov said there were several important and necessary steps the International community should do. The main thing is not to look for guilty ones on the Russian side. But regrettably, it is continuing without any proof and grounds, just because somebody does not like modern Russia with its independent policy, its consistent defense of national interests, care for compatriots and responsible attitude to the international law. Such Russia does not suit some in the present world, he said.

If the politicians are really interested in normalization of the situation, they must pay attention to those of “the party of war” in Kiev and make them comply in full with the Minsk agreements, begin a constitutional reform, start a normal dialogue with Donbas representatives and on the whole have common sense over the circumstances that have caused the crisis in Ukraine, the diplomat said.

The second thing to do is to realize that sanctions against Russia lead to a result completely opposite to what was expected, he said.

“We repeatedly said about the illegitimacy of sanctional measures of pressure on Russia. We confirm that we will not discuss criteria with the authors of the policy and its followers to lift any sanctions. But they should think how wrong their logic is. They must admit at least for themselves, if not publicly, that all their sanctions lead to a result completely opposite to what they have expected — that Russia because of sanctions would change its policy. It is not just naive, it is contrary to political and life logic. Nobody makes concessions under pressure. They only move prospects for the normal political process farther, being occupied with illegitimate actions and provoking other international community members to the actions,” he said.

“The third what can be said in this connection is that anti-Russian-minded politicians in the West should consider what their countries could gain from normal cooperation with Russia and compare it to what they have now.

“There are too many challenges and threats in the world. We see confirmation of this every day. Without deep, real, concrete and sincere cooperation with Russia, it is impossible to solve the problems. Attempting to impose restrictions on us, the people act in their detriment. Their logic is unclear. It is reflection of narrow thinking, artificially limited to false ideas of what is happening in the world. It can be described only as such,” the diplomat concluded.