MINSK, 18 November (BelTA) - The main task at this stage is to create the conditions for the resumption of dialogue on Ukraine in the Minsk format, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk on 18 November, BelTA has learned.
"This is the only format where the parties to the conflict sit together at the negotiating table. Available is the basis for the talks in the form of the Minsk Protocol and Minsk memorandum. We would like to see that each item of these documents should be fulfilled scrupulously,” he said.
“The South-East has publicly announced the readiness for this. We hope that the recent actions by Kiev, namely the adoption of the decree on substantial restrictions of the socio-economic processes and the suspension of the banking service in the South-East, will not become an insurmountable obstacle for the resumption of the Minsk process, which is now the only format that suits all," Sergei Lavrov said.
Sergei Lavrov said that the Russian side pays increased attention to the ensuring of the interests of Russia and Belarus in the framework of the Union State. According to him, the joint meeting of the two foreign ministries reviewed, among other important issues, the situation in Europe in the context of relations between Russia and Belarus and the European Union, and also in the context of the joint work in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe "where the Ukrainian theme has come to symbolize the discharge of the contradictions that have accumulated over the past couple of decades, the contradictions in the sphere of security, the inability of our Western partners to abandon the dividing lines, to create a unified, common space of equal security, equal economic and humanitarian cooperation". Sergei Lavrov said that the crisis is not over.
“We share your assessment of what is happening in Ukraine. We would really like to see direct dialogue which was launched here, in Minsk, resume after the election on the new bases. The Minsk agreement is now, perhaps, the only thing that is supported by all without exception: the Ukrainian parties, Russia, Belarus, and naturally the European Union, and the United States,” said Sergei Lavrov.
"This is the only format where the parties to the conflict sit together at the negotiating table. Available is the basis for the talks in the form of the Minsk Protocol and Minsk memorandum. We would like to see that each item of these documents should be fulfilled scrupulously,” he said.
“The South-East has publicly announced the readiness for this. We hope that the recent actions by Kiev, namely the adoption of the decree on substantial restrictions of the socio-economic processes and the suspension of the banking service in the South-East, will not become an insurmountable obstacle for the resumption of the Minsk process, which is now the only format that suits all," Sergei Lavrov said.
Sergei Lavrov said that the Russian side pays increased attention to the ensuring of the interests of Russia and Belarus in the framework of the Union State. According to him, the joint meeting of the two foreign ministries reviewed, among other important issues, the situation in Europe in the context of relations between Russia and Belarus and the European Union, and also in the context of the joint work in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe "where the Ukrainian theme has come to symbolize the discharge of the contradictions that have accumulated over the past couple of decades, the contradictions in the sphere of security, the inability of our Western partners to abandon the dividing lines, to create a unified, common space of equal security, equal economic and humanitarian cooperation". Sergei Lavrov said that the crisis is not over.
“We share your assessment of what is happening in Ukraine. We would really like to see direct dialogue which was launched here, in Minsk, resume after the election on the new bases. The Minsk agreement is now, perhaps, the only thing that is supported by all without exception: the Ukrainian parties, Russia, Belarus, and naturally the European Union, and the United States,” said Sergei Lavrov.
