Russia does not agree with the return of the occupied town of Debaltseve under control of Ukraine, the work on this issue will continue at the level of ministers and aides, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov answered the question of a UNIAN correspondent in Russia, whether Russia agrees to return this town under control of Ukraine.
”As for Debaltseve, here it`s the situation when earlier reached agreements are interpreted in an absolutely different way. The Russian side absolutely disagrees with proposals on the issue voiced by its interlocutors. The issue remains uncoordinated, the work on the issue will be continued at the level of foreign ministers and aides,” Peskov said.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Normandy format in Berlin on October 19.
Speaking at a briefing following the talks, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the parties had agreed that after the disengagement in the previous three areas – Zolote, Petrivske and Stanytsia Luhanska – the OSCE 24/7 permanent monitoring posts should be set up there. And after that, they will begin negotiating the next four areas of disengagement, including Debaltseve.
”I want to emphasize that the Ukrainian side insisted that Debaltseve should be among these four areas, as a place where we need to ensure the demilitarization of the area, since under the memorandum of September 19, this area was under the control of the Ukrainian military until February 12 and we believe that this will greatly facilitate the process of de-escalation, and it will be quite effective.”
