Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson: The United States has undermined the process of peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian issue

Moscow, 9 Feb (China News Service) -- Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova said at a regular news conference on 9 February that the US statement on the Minsk agreement undermined the peaceful settlement process of the Ukrainian issue.

Zakharova said the package of measures signed on February 12, 2015 under the Normandy model, is the only and indisputable basis for resolving the crisis in Ukraine. The agreement includes a comprehensive ceasefire in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine and the withdrawal of the two sides of the conflict by the same distance. However, "Kiev, with the connivance of the West, continues to undermine its obligations".

Zakharova said Ukraine's contemptuous attitude towards the "package of measures" was clearly encouraged by its "American protectors." Recently, US Secretary of State Blinken said that the terms of the Minsk agreement can only be implemented if they find their "correct order". "This illustrates one thing: the United States is in favor of revising the 'package of measures,' which is fraught with disruption to the peace process."

Zakharova also spoke of Europe's "double standards." She said Russia had not heard the "Normandy model" of Germany and France react to statements from the Ukrainian leadership and the U.S. State Department. In addition, she noted that foreign ministers from several European countries have recently visited Ukraine, "but these Western diplomats in bulletproof vests and helmets have not gone too far", "they do not ask anything about what is happening in Donbass and avoid visiting Donetsk and Luhansk".

Zakharova pointed out that the West continues to ship weapons and equipment to Ukraine. "We believe that the easing of the situation around Ukraine, which our Western partners often talk about, may soon be achieved." To this end, it is necessary to stop the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, withdraw Western military advisers and instructors from its territory, stop joint exercises between the armed forces of Ukraine and NATO countries, and withdraw all weapons and equipment previously delivered to Kiev. Now that the Western world is putting ukraine first, it is time to begin implementing the Minsk agreement. ”

Zakharova called for an end to the human escalation surrounding the situation in Ukraine and for practical measures to truly ease the situation on the basis of the Minsk agreements. She expressed the hope that the online meeting of the Tripartite Contact Group on Ukraine and the upcoming "Normandy-model" quartet talks will promote positive progress in the process of peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian issue. (End)

Source: China News Network