EU Should Sanction Ukraine Over Failure To Respect Minsk Agreement - French Politician

Thierry Mariani, a candidate in the upcoming elections to the European Parliament and the head of the Franco-Russian Dialogue Association, voiced the belief on Thursday that the European Union should introduce sanctions against Ukraine over Kiev's violations of the Minsk agreement on ceasefire in the eastern breakaway region of Donbas

SIMFEROPOL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th March, 2019) Thierry Mariani, a candidate in the upcoming elections to the European Parliament and the head of the Franco-Russian Dialogue Association, voiced the belief on Thursday that the European Union should introduce sanctions against Ukraine over Kiev's violations of the Minsk agreement on ceasefire in the eastern breakaway region of Donbas.

"If we talk about the need to introduce some sanctions, then they should be introduced against Ukraine that does not respect the provisions of the Minsk accords," Mariani, who is currently on a visit to Russia's Crimea as the head of the French delegation, said at a conference in Rossiya Segodnya's press center in Crimea.

The minister recalled that he had visited Donbas six months ago.

"We discussed the Minsk agreement to check what measures the Ukrainian side has taken, and we noted that Ukraine had not done anything that the Minsk agreement envisaged," Mariani added.

He slammed the European Union for justifying its sanctions against Russia with claims that Russia failed to comply with the Minsk agreement.

Mariani stressed that it was Ukraine that should be subject to sanctions.

"First, it [the Minsk agreement] said that the eastern part of Ukrane should be made autonomous. The [Verkhovna] Rada [Ukrainian parliament] has not voted on this yet, and it has not even put any related bill to a vote. Secondly, the Minsk agreement envisages political amnesty for Donbas residents and a new law on elections. Rada has not held a vote on any of this," Mariani added.

The armed conflict in the east of Ukraine began in 2014, after the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics refused to recognize the new government, saying that it had come to power through a coup.

In 2015, the warring parties signed a ceasefire deal in Minsk, following talks, brokered by the leaders of the so-called Normandy group, uniting Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine. Despite this agreement, sporadic fighting has continued in Donbas. To date, the situation remains tense, with both sides accusing each other of violating the ceasefire.