Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1652652/common-goal-all-parties-involved-stabilise-ukraine
Comment/ Letters

Common goal of all the parties involved is to stabilise Ukraine

Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

Some news reports and commentaries from the international media which have appeared in the South China Morning Post concerning the dramatic events in Ukraine and around it are not always accurate. Therefore, I feel I must explain the current efforts of the Russian side to contribute to the settlement of the crisis.

As it was emphasised recently by Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the common goal of all the parties involved is to stabilise Ukraine as soon as possible, to ensure a ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weaponry in keeping with the Minsk Protocol, as well as to take other actions stipulated in that document.

The Russian side has repeatedly called for the unconditional continuation of the Minsk process mediated by Russia and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and is convinced that the key players - the conflicting sides in Ukraine, the EU, the United States and Russia, which signed the Minsk agreements, should do everything possible towards a consistent implementation of these agreements.

Following the cessation of all hostilities, joint efforts should be undertaken to develop economic and political ties as stipulated in the Minsk Protocol, which points to the need for a comprehensive national and political dialogue between the sides.

A current priority is to continue a stable and direct dialogue between Kiev and Donetsk and Lugansk in the context of the recent elections held in Ukraine and in the Ukrainian regions that are controlled by the Donetsk and Lugansk representatives.

Unfortunately, contrary to the Geneva Statement adopted by the US, the EU, Ukraine and Russia in Geneva in April 2014, providing that Kiev would immediately launch an inclusive constitutional process involving all regions and political forces in the country, no process has started yet and there are no plans to do this.

The Russian side believes that the most urgent task now is to stop the armed confrontation in the southeast, to mark the dividing line and to withdraw heavy weaponry. But as for the long-term stabilisation in Ukraine, we must not forget about the goals of national accord, unity and reconciliation, as well as constitutional reform, which Ukraine accepted as necessary by signing the Geneva Statement of April 17.

Vladimir Kalinin, Russian consul general