Putin and Zelensky discuss Donbas settlement over the phone
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, reported the press service of the Ukrainian President.
The parties discussed the implementation of the agreements reached during the Normandy summit on December 9, 2019 in Paris.
Zelensky also raised the issue of security in the Donbas. The parties welcomed the agreement on a full and comprehensive ceasefire in the Donbas, which began at 00:01 on July 27. The Russian President supported the agreement. The presidents agreed on the need to implement additional measures to support the ceasefire in the Donbas.
The two presidents discussed the details of cooperation in mine clearing, withdrawal of troops and military equipment and the opening of additional entry points on the demarcation line in the Donbas, the work of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, and ensuring the access of the Red Cross International Committee to the detainees. Zelensky spoke about the need to release the Crimean Tatar activist, Ruslan Suleymano,v following the tragic death of his three-year-old son.
The Ukrainian President emphasized the need for further practical steps in the release of detained Ukrainian citizens who are held captive in the territories of the Donbas which are not under Ukraine’s control, annexed Crimea and Russia.
The parties also discussed the Ukrainian Law on the Local Government in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which is under consideration in the Trilateral Contact Group and the Decentralization Act, which provides for changes to the Ukrainian Constitution.
The Kremlin said that Putin "described the resolution adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament on July 15 to hold local elections in 2020 as contrary to the Minsk agreements and jeopardizing the prospects for a settlement in the Donbas."
"In addition, there is serious concern about recent statements by high-ranking Ukrainian officials about the inadmissibility of a number of provisions of the Package of Measures and the need to revise them. The Russian President emphasized that the position voiced by Volodymyr Zelensky during the current telephone conversation on the non-alternativeness of the Minsk agreements should be confirmed by the real actions of Kyiv authorities," the Kremlin press service added.
Putin emphasized the need to successfully implement the agreements reached by the four leaders in Paris in order to hold the next Normandy Four summit in Berlin.