Contents tagged with Minsk agreements

  • Russia Unlikely To Participate In PACE In 2016

    The Russian delegation will be unable to participate in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe this year. The President of PACE, Anne Brasseur, reported this in her statement, published on the organization’s website on January 19th.

    Brasseur confirmed that she received a letter from the Chairman of the Council of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the State Duma, which says that, the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation will not file documents for a Russian delegation to …

  • EU Presses Ukraine on Anti-Corruption and Judicial Reforms

    After a session of the EU Council, at a meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs on January 18th, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated that the European Union expressed concern about the insufficient progress of Ukraine in carrying out reforms. Steinmeier noted that it is important for Ukraine to reform the justice system and put anti-corruption measures in place. According to him, these are the key steps to solving the economic problems in the country.

    The High …

  • Daniel Fried: Russia is now Taking Sanctions Seriously

    Speaking at American University in Washington on January 15th, the U.S. State Department’s Coordinator for Sanctions, Daniel Fried, stated that the U.S. Government believes that sanctions are an instrument of international policy. According to Fried, economic influences have a greater effect than the use of military force in today’s political climate.

    In recent history, there are examples of both successful and unsuccessful sanctions. For the latter, Fried cites the blockade of Cuba, which, …

  • Ukrainian authorities: government forces comply with ceasefire despite provocations

    The Ukrainian military is fully complying with the Minsk Agreements, although Russian occupation troops have intensified fighting and shelling, as indicated during a press briefing on Thursday by a representative of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine on ATO issues, Colonel Alexander Motuzyanik, UKRINFORM reported.

    "Already today, the enemy has broken the ceasefire at least 18 times. It should be emphasized that the ATO forces are fully complying with the Minsk Agreements, so all …

  • Poroshenko Discusses Ukrainian Conflict with Merkel and Hollande

    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held a telephone conference with the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, and the President of France, Francois Hollande, reported the Press Service of the Administration of the Ukrainian President.

    According to the report, the Ukrainian President stressed the unacceptability of the violation of the ceasefire by the Russian-backed separatists and the denial of access of OSCE observers to the occupied territory and uncontrolled parts of the Russian- …

  • Pushylin: Peacekeepers are not included in Minsk Agreement

    According to Denis Pushylin, a representative of the so-called ‘Donetsk Peoples Republic’ (DPR), the self-proclaimed republic is against the engagement of the UN Security Council members in peacemaking efforts in the Donbas as requested by Kiev, reports the Donetsk News Agency (DNA), a separatist media outlet."I would like to reiterate that there is a plan for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements signed on February 12, 2015. And according to Section Three of this document, the OSCE …

  • OSCE Informed Of Pro-Russian Separatists' Weapons Violations

    The General Intelligence Directorate reported that Ukraine has informed the representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine about the placement of prohibited weapons in the regions of three settlements: Lobachyov, Bezymyannoye and Jubileynoye.

    “The situation in the ATO zone remains challenging. Pro-Russian militants shelled Ukrainian positions 20 times using small arms and grenade launchers,” the report said. Intelligence officers noted that they provided information about …

  • Despite ceasefire violations, Ukraine will not abandon Minsk Agreement

    During a visit to the Aerotekhnika-MLT Company to examine the production and modernization of air defense systems, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, spoke about ceasefire violations and the Minsk Agreements.

    The news agency Ukrinform reported Turchynov as saying "Russia has completely disrupted the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. Of course, the Minsk process is not halted. It will continue next year and, hopefully, more effectively …

  • Herashchenko: Gryzlov will not change Ukraine’s stance in Minsk

    On December 26th, Vladimir Putin appointed Boris Gryzlov as new representative of the Russian Federation in the Trilateral Contact Group. Gryzlov is a permanent member of Russia’s Security Council and was the former Head of Russia’s State Duma.

    The Ukrainian President’s Commissioner for Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict in Eastern Ukraine, Iryna Herashchenko, wrote on her Facebook page that the appointment of Boris Gryzlov to the Trilateral Contact Group will not change Ukraine’s position.

    “ …

  • Poroshenko: More evidence that Russia violated Minsk Agreements

    During his trip to Brussels, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said there is mounting evidence that Russia has violated the Minsk Agreements.

    "Regarding the discussion between members of the EU about extending the sanctions against Russia, I brought even more evidence of Russia's failure to comply with the Minsk Agreements; the supply of arms, and the sending of troops to the territory of Ukrainian”, Poroshenko said.

    Poroshenko is in the midst of his two day trip to the Belgian capital. …