All Agreements On Ukraine Must Focus On Improving Lives Of Local Residents - Putin

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th December, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed after Normandy Format talks in Paris that all agreements on Ukraine must focus on improving the lives of local residents and that Kiev should speed up work on granting amnesty to participants in the conflict in the southeast.

"Let's not forget here about ordinary people who live there [in southeastern Ukraine]. All our agreements must contribute to improving their lives not at some time in the future, but now," Putin told reporters.

The Russian leader drew attention to the need to increase the number of checkpoints in the southeast of Ukraine, to speed up the control procedures that "hundreds and thousands of ordinary people, who live in this area" have to go through.

Putin stressed that Kiev should also work on speeding up the implementation of an amnesty for people who have participated in the conflict in southeastern Ukraine.

"They [Kiev] should not drag out the fulfillment of other obligations, namely, the amnesty and the legislative prohibition of criminal prosecution of persons who participated in the events in the south-east of the country," Putin stressed.