Minsk accord on Ukraine must be enforced: Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the agreement reached on the Ukrainian crisis in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk in February must be fully implemented.

“The whole package of measures from February 12 [the Minsk agreement] remains in force exactly as a package,” Lavrov said early on Wednesday, following a meeting of foreign ministers from the Normandy Quartet (or Normandy Four) countries in Paris.

The French, German, Russian, and Ukrainian foreign ministers held a meeting at the French Foreign Ministry on Tuesday to discuss the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis.

The two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations in April last year to crush pro-Russia protests there.

In May 2014, the situation in the two flashpoint regions started to worsen as residents overwhelmingly voted for independence from Ukraine in referendums.

During peace talks in Minsk on February 11-12, the leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine reached a deal, dubbed Minsk II, on the withdrawal of heavy weapons from Ukraine’s frontlines and a ceasefire, which officially went into effect on February 14. The warring sides, however, have continued to engage in sporadic clashes.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Lavrov said the stabilization of the situation in eastern Ukraine is highly significant.

“We noted that, despite the necessity of progress, the goal of stabilizing the military situation and restoring security [in eastern Ukraine] is of paramount importance,” Lavrov said, adding that there has recently been an upsurge in ceasefire violations in the conflict zone.

He also said that the foreign ministers in the Paris meeting unanimously spoke against attempts to disrupt the Minsk accord, which they see as the only solution for the crisis in Ukraine.

“Many… prefer a military, forceful scenario; many want the situation not to settle, but instead to escalate… Today, I emphasize it bindingly, all four ministers stood firmly against such attempts and for Minsk II remaining the basis of all our efforts.”

The Russian top diplomat further expressed hope that the Normandy Four countries would put pressure on the warring sides in Ukraine to abide by the Minsk deal.

“I do hope that we will take every step to force the sides in the conflict to stick to the Minsk agreement,” he said.

More than 6,500 people have been killed in the conflict in Ukraine, the UN says. Around 1.5 million people have also been forced to flee their homes due to the turmoil.

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