Kiev Refused to Fulfill Minsk Agreements

The government in Kiev is not ready to perform the Minsk agreements. This was stated by the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy to the US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland.

Parubiy noted that currently it's "very hard to talk about changes to the Constitution on decentralization and the law on elections in Donbass. According to him, this is due to security issues in the region. "Until we see a lasting ceasefire for at least 30, but preferably 60 days, it is very difficult to have a discussion about the following points (of the Minsk agreements)," said Parubiy.

On June 22nd Victoria Nuland met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the speaker of Parliament Andriy Parubiy. They discussed the program of reforms in Ukraine and implementation of the Minsk agreements. On 24th June, she flew to Moscow to meet with Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov. Press Secretary of Russian President Dmitry Peskov noted that this meeting would be the traditional exchange of views and comparing of notes.

The conflict in the southeast of Ukraine began in the spring of 2014. During this time, victims of the conflict reached more than 9,000 people. Measures to resolve the conflict are being discussed in the Normandy Format, as well as a special contact group. Negotiators adopted three documents governing the steps to de-escalate the conflict.