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Putin confirmed that the process of resolving the Ukrainian conflict “continues to be stuck” even despite efforts within the framework of the so-called Normandy Format
The President of Russia, Vladimir Putinfound this Friday a “aggravation“of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where the Ukrainian Army has been facing since 2014 pro-Russian separatist militias supported by Moscow and where in the last few hours both parties have once once more accused each other of ceasefire violations. “Unfortunately, we are now seeing a worsening of the situation in Donbas,” the Russian president said at a joint press conference with his Belarusian counterpart. Alexandr Lukashenko.
According to Putin, “fulfillment of the Minsk Agreements are the guarantee for the restoration of peace in ukraine and to put an end to the tensions around this country”. “All that Kiev has to do is sit down at the table of talks with the representatives of Donbas and agree on the political, military, economic and humanitarian measures to put an end to the conflict,” he added. “And the sooner this happens, the better,” he stressed.
Putin noted that the process of resolving the Ukrainian conflict “continues to be stuck” even despite efforts within the framework of the so-called Normandy Format, made up of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia. He added that Kiev “essentially sabotages the implementation of the agreements on changes to the (Ukrainian) Constitution on the special status of Donbas, local elections and amnesty” to the participants in the conflict. “Overall in Ukraine the rights of human rights, At the legislative level, discrimination once morest the Russian-speaking population is fixed,” he said.
actual conflict
For his part, Lukashenko warned that for the first time in decades the region “is on the verge of a real conflict,” for which he blamed the West.
“As you see, this no longer depends even on our neighbors, including Ukraine. It is obvious to you who depends on the escalation of tensions next to our borders. For the first time in decades, we are on the brink of a conflict that might spread to the entire continent,” he warned.
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The Belarusian president accused “a series of western politicians“of a irresponsibility and lack of intelligence “that escape logic” and “an unhealthy desire to walk to the brink” of the precipice.
The violations of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine increased the day before with the use of weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements, while both parties hold each other responsible for these breaches. Representatives of the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk today announced the start of the evacuation of part of the local population to Russia due to the danger of renewed fighting in this region.