Russian authorities are dissatisfied with the Minsk format of negotiations and seek to ruin it, according to First Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine`s representative to the humanitarian subgroup in Minsk Iryna Gerashchenko, Ukrainska Pravda reports.
Gerashchenko recalled that in December last year, Europe has extended sanctions against Russia.
”That is why Moscow is so dissatisfied with the Minsk format and seeks to ruin someone with someone else`s hands, getting rid of the [contact] group members, discrediting our work,” said Gerashchenko.
According to Gerashchenko, the main task is to force Russia to fulfill its obligations.
”The question is not about the format, but exclusively about Russia`s irresponsibility. The aggressive and destructive stance of Moscow today, in fact, has blocked the normal work of the UN Security Council, the OSCE, and other international organizations, making any international platform futile: either in Minsk, New York, or Vienna,” she said.
”So the question is not so much about the search for new formats or expanding the Normandy format and the Minsk groups, it`s about something else: how to force Russia to respect international law and comply with its obligations,” said Gerashchenko.
UNIAN memo. Russia in March 2014, after the introduction of its troops, annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and began to destabilize the situation in Donbas.
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has officially announced February 20, 2014, the date of the beginning of the temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia. On October 7, 2015, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has signed the relevant law.
International organizations have recognized the occupation and annexation of Crimea illegal and condemned Russia`s actions. Western countries have introduced a series of economic sanctions against Russia.
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