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Diplomatic leaders from four countries, the so-called “Normandy Quartet,” held video conferences as the COVID-19 coronavirus infection pandemic thwarted plans to actually meet.
Negotiations over a six-year conflict between Kiev forces and the Moscow-backed pro-Russian separatists in Donbas took place after a summit in December last year during which Russia and Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire and the withdrawal of the strengths.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the ceasefire regime was not being followed and claimed that there were civilian casualties in Donbass.
“Today, we call on Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk to take additional steps to support the ceasefire,” Lavrov said of the four-way talks during the press conference.
In 2014, a conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine between the forces of Kiev and the Russian-backed separatists. More than 13,000 people died during it. people, according to United Nations data.
The separatists took control of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions shortly after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine.
The situation on the hotline is being monitored by staff from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) who have reported ongoing shootings.
Observers also report that since late March they have been denied access to separatist regions in eastern Ukraine due to coronavirus restrictions.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas emphasized that giving observers access was “necessary” and that COVID-19 should not be “abused as an argument to the detriment of the OSCE.”
“Obviously, the pandemic has not facilitated the implementation of what was agreed, but that should not be an excuse,” if no action is taken, he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to resolve the conflict, and since the December summit some signs of a decline have emerged, including various prisoner exchanges.
But Moscow and Kiev continued to blame on Thursday, with Lavrov saying that Kiev was “avoiding direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk,” and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he would not enter into dialogue with “illegal groups” and accused Moscow for breaking its own promises.
“But we must continue working,” said Kuleba. – We have to move forward because we have no other Russia; We only have this Russia, and we must continue the dialogue to stop Russia’s aggression. “
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