Klimkin: There wont be negotiations until Russia withdraws from eastern Ukraine
During a meeting with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Germany and France, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Jean-Marc Ayrault, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pavlo Klimkin, stated that Ukraine needs a guarantee that Russia will implement the Minsk Agreements in order to continue the work in the Normandy format. According to Klimkin, Ukraine wants to see clear and coherent steps from Russia in order for the conflict in the Donbas to be resolved.
“We fully understand that we need a clear vision of the sequence of steps and simultaneous guarantees […] in order to achieve progress towards implementation of the Minsk Agreements and to make Russia implement these agreements. Progress towards implementing this task should lead us to the possibility of meetings in the Normandy format at the political level,” the official said.
Pavlo Klimkin also stated that OSCE observers should be given access to the whole territory of the Donbas. Klimkin said that he rejects the current status of the Donbas because the Donbas isn’t just a territory, it is also the home of millions of Ukrainians.