Russia Interested In Peaceful Settlement Of Ukrainian Crisis - Foreign Ministry

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Swedish Foreign Minister Anne Linde during a phone conversation on Wednesday that Moscow is interested in a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th April, 2021) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Swedish Foreign Minister Anne Linde during a phone conversation on Wednesday that Moscow is interested in a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"Moscow's interest in resolving the conflict exclusively by peaceful means on an uncontested basis of the Minsk Package of Measures was confirmed. The need was noted for the unswerving implementation of the additional 'Measures to strengthen the ceasefire regime' agreed in July 2020 in the contact group by the parties to the conflict Kiev, Donetsk and Luhansk," the ministry said.

Lavrov also told Linde that Russia is concerned about Kiev's transfer of troops to the contact line in Donbas.

"The main attention was paid to the situation in the southeast of Ukraine. The Russian side expressed concern about the escalation of the conflict caused by the transfer of personnel and weapons by Kiev to the contact line, as well as the regular shelling of the suburbs of Donetsk and Luhansk by the Ukrainian military," the ministry added.

Moreover, the top Russian diplomat called on OSCE to seek Kiev's fulfillment of its obligations on the settlement in Donbas more actively.

"The hope was expressed that the Swedish OSCE chairmanship will make the necessary efforts to get Kiev to strictly fulfill its obligations to resolve the conflict, including solving the humanitarian problems of the population of the DPR [The Donetsk People's Republic] and LPR [the Luhansk People's Republic], primarily by recognizing the economic blockade of these territories," the ministry said.

The Russian foreign minister also drew Linde's attention to the lack of objectivity in the work of the OSCE monitoring mission in Donbas.

"The Russian side also noted that in the current situation the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine is required to boost steps to impartially monitor the situation on both sides of the contact line in Donbas, primarily the deaths of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure," the ministry said.