Kremlin says Russia was serious about Minsk agreements

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia made a significant effort to implement the Minsk agreements on the Ukrainian settlement, blaming Kyiv, Germany and France for their behavior at the final stage.

Commenting on remarks by former German, French, and Ukrainian leaders who said they signed the Minsk accords to buy time for Ukraine to strengthen its military capabilities, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the main task for Moscow in signing the document was to push Ukraine to fulfil its obligations under the agreement.

However, "at the final stage," there was "some pessimism" about the accords' implementation due to "Berlin, Paris, and Kyiv behavior," he said.

"You know how much effort the Russian side put in on the negotiating track to force both the Ukrainian side, (as well as) Berlin and Paris, to take the path of implementing the obligations that the parties assumed under the Minsk agreements," he said.

The Minsk agreements is a package of documents aimed at resolving the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, signed in February 2015 in the Belarusian capital by representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the presence of German and French leaders, who stepped in as guarantors of the accords’ implementation.​​​​​​​