Russia threatens Ukraine with ‘irreparable consequences’ if Kyiv attempts to change Minsk agreements
If Ukraine tries to amend the Minsk agreements, it will face "irreparable consequences", stated the representative of Russia in the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbass (TCG) Boris Gryzlov, RIA Novosti reports.
"Any attempts by Kyiv to change the Minsk agreements, including changing the order of steps to be implemented, can lead to irreparable consequences," he said.
In addition, the Russian representative made it clear that control over the Russian-Ukrainian border before the elections in the territories which are not controlled by Ukraine will not be granted to Kyiv. For the Ukrainian authorities to gain control over the border, Gryzlov stated, it is necessary to grant Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics special status, declare amnesty, and hold elections.
"Given the statements of both Ukrainian nationalists and a number of Kyiv officials about their plans to "cleanse" the recalcitrant territories, such Kyiv control is a threat of genocide against the residents of the Donbas," he added.
At the same time, Interfax-Ukraine news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating group, reports that Gryzlov did not participate in the last TCG meeting.
"Mr. Gryzlov's comments, made allegedly on the results of the TCG's work today (May 27), in which he again criticizes Ukraine for the supposedly passive position of the Ukrainian delegation, are not true. Mr. Gryzlov did not even take part in the work of TCG today," the source said.
Earlier, the head of the Presidential Office Andrii Yermak said that “the temporarily occupied territories of Donbass can return to Ukrainian jurisdiction by the end of the year”.