Lavrov accuses Head of Ukrainian National Security Council of refusing to comply with Minsk agreements
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that statements by the Secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, regarding the advance of Ukrainian troops to the east of the country indicate Kyiv's reluctance to fulfill the key points of the Minsk agreements.
Earlier Turchynov told the BBC that the main task of the Ukrainian military is now "meter by meter, kilometer by kilometer, while minimizing losses, to move east."
"Mr. Turchynov's statement means that Kyiv refuses to comply with the very part of the Minsk agreements with regard to security issues that it considers to be a priority and absolutely essential to the later resolution of everything else," commented Lavrov.
According to Lavrov, the Ukrainian leadership consciously continues this line of conduct, which means that "in Kyiv they care not for their European patrons."
Turchynov also noted in an interview that last year was the first since the beginning of the operation in the east that Ukrainian troops did not surrender a single meter of land, but to the contrary actually acquired dozens of kilometers.
He also stressed that the mood of people in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions is different from the mood of the inhabitants of the Crimea annexed by Russia.
"Many local Donetsk and Luhansk patriots were ready to give their lives for Ukraine," the Secretary of the Ukrainian Security Council said.