Donetsk, Jun 2 - DAN. The Ukrainian delegation’s statements in Berlin concerning the ways to fulfil the provisions of the “Normandy Four” summit (in Paris on December 9, 2019) communique are completely at odds with reality, Donetsk People’s Republic representative to the Contact Group, DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova said on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President’s Office head Andrey Yermak said at a meeting with the German chancellor’s foreign policy advisor Jan Hecker that Kiev would continue to insist on the soonest implementation of the summit accords. Two prisoner swaps carried out by the parties can serve as an example. Meanwhile, the cessation of shelling remains among the key issues, according to the Ukrainian President’s Office website.
“Mr Yermak refers to the “Normandy Four” summit instructions alleging that Ukraine fulfils all the provisions stated in the communique. However, such statements are completely at odds with reality,” Nikonorova said in a statement received by the Donetsk News Agency.
Ukrainian authorities have to make practical moves towards de-escalation and bringing peace closer, she added. “First, they have to coordinate additional ceasefire control measures in Minsk and new areas for the disengagement of forces and hardware," she said. “Instead, Ukrainian representatives sabotage the substantive discussion within the framework of the Contact Group and waste time on creating illusions of their involvement in peace talks.” *jk