Moscow - The Contact Group is the most effective format for dealing with the Ukrainian crisis, Russian Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Andrei Kelin said.
“Continuation of a direct dialogue between the warring sides under the aegis
of the Contact Group is the most effective way to achieve a peace settlement,”
Kelin said at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council.
Moscow is looking forward to a new meeting of the Contact Group in Minsk, the
diplomat said in a speech published on the Russian Foreign Ministry website on Dec. 12.
“Hopefully, this time the agreements will be formulated in such a way as to
ensure their fulfillment by all sides,” he underlined.
Speaking of the need for a lasting truce in southeastern Ukraine, Kelin said
Moscow “pointed to certain positive trends – a day of silence had been declared
and the withdrawal of the militia’s heavy armaments from the line of contact had
begun.”
“The OSCE is bound to monitor this process on both sides of the line of
contact. Alas, the militia continues to report ongoing bombardments by the
Ukrainian army although their intensity has reduced,” the Russian envoy
said.
In Kelin’s opinion, the November 2 elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk
and Luhansk people’s republics “do not undermine the Minsk agreements but on the
contrary create conditions for their practical implementation, including
security guarantees, a program of economic reconstructions, restoration of daily
living activities of the region and the launch of a national political
dialogue.”
The Russian diplomat hopes that the West will influence Kyiv and promote a
peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian crisis.
“We expect our Western partners to interact with the Ukrainian administration
on which they have a vital influence will do the utmost for a peaceful scenario
of the events,” Kelin said.
