PARIS, April 3. /TASS/. Influential French newspaper Le Monde has told its readers of concern in Paris about a policy U-turn by Ukraine's government over peace in the country's war-torn east, noting that the West is "beginning to voice irritation and reminding that its support is not unconditional".
Kiev's perceived violation of the peace accords signed in Minsk, Belarus, was generating disquiet in the French capital, the daily says, noting the Elysee presidential administration's reaction to the fact that Ukrainian authorities' fail to honour commitments aimed at bringing peace to the embattled Donbas region.
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Le Monde quotes a source close to French President Francois Hollande as saying Ukrainian head of state Petro Poroshenko had "failed to push through parliament a law that guarantees holding local elections in the eastern regions and granting special status for them".
"Kiev puts forward conditions which are not stipulated by the Minsk agreements," the paper said.
The Minsk accords envisaged elections and withdrawal of forces "after the beginning of political changes and granting a certain autonomy to Donbas", the paper notes.
"However, law endorsed by the Ukrainian parliament links granting autonomy to Ukraine’s eastern regions to holding local elections and withdrawing illegal armed groups," it adds.
"Such a U-turn only makes the settlement process, complex as it is, even more unstable and very difficult to implement," the paper says.
By acting this way, Kiev gave rise to criticism, with the West "beginning to voice irritation and reminding that its support is not unconditional," it adds.