Summarizing the results of the April 8 Contact Group meeting, no progress has been achieved in the implementation of the Minsk agreements’ political section as Kiev had failed to provide its stands on the agenda, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.
“Today [on April 8] we were to approve the procedure for the necessary regulatory legal acts’ coordination with the Republics, as stipulated by the Package of Measures, but the Ukrainian party put forward no proposals on this issue. The only thing that was heard from the representatives of Ukraine was the statement that this order’s implementation mechanism could possibly be put to work through the Advisory Council’s activities. At the same time, we would like to recall that it was Kiev that absolved itself of the responsibility to implement the agreement on its creation already reached within the Contact Group,” Natalia Nikonorova said.
The negotiators represented by the Russian Federation proposed a draft schedule for the submission and approval of regulatory legal acts. We were ready to work on each of its items, and moreover, the Republics had already provided some drafts for discussion. But the Ukrainian party refused to submit their stands in paper, thereby preventing the achievement of any results.
“Today [on April 8], representatives of Ukraine impliedly admitted their lack of interest in specific accomplishments on the political track as their position laid in the thesis “the work is ongoing and let it go ahead.” In our opinion, such a position is a foot-dragging of the conflict’s comprehensive settlement. It’s high time to proceed to substantive activities to comply with the obligations under the Minsk Agreements’ political aspects, including the agreements that were reached and confirmed by the Ukrainian officials’ signatures on the relevant documents on March 11 in Minsk,” the DPR Plenipotentiary emphasized.