Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine regarding Russia’s failure to abide by the Geneva agreement
April 21, 2014
The illegal paramilitary units controlled by Russian security services continue to operate at destabilizing the situation in the eastern regions of our country and to create grounds for a new phase of military aggression by Russia.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine demands that the Russian side, in accordance with the Geneva agreement, publicly dissociate itself from the armed separatists and provocateurs and order them to immediately lay down their arms and free seized administration buildings, and to condemn the seizure of hostages, especially journalists, as well as the manifestations of the xenophobia and anti-Semitism that are being spread by the separatists.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, as well as the Kremlin-controlled mass media, in recent days has launched another wave of disinformation in order to mislead the international community regarding the true causes of the explosive situation in the eastern regions of Ukraine.
We are compelled, once again, to officially declare the absence of any evidence linking the Right Sector to the bloody shooting in Sloviansk. and to assert, therefore, that the unfounded and baseless accusations by the Russian party are designed to conceal its own subversive activities.
We observe that, as of today, the Russian side has shown no signs of readiness to honor the Geneva agreement. Due to the absence of support for separatists on the part of the population in the eastern oblasts of Ukraine, Russia is seeking more and more ways to destabilize the situation in the region and is preparing and carrying out numerous provocations through its agents.
Faithfully honoring all the agreements reached in Geneva on April 17, Ukraine in recent days has carried out a number of important measures.
The active phase of the antiterrorist operation, whose main objective is the prevention of civilian casualties, has been suspended.
The government of Ukraine has submitted to Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) a draft law on the amnesty of participants in mass disturbances that will apply to those protestors who surrender guns and free seized administration buildings, with the exception of those suspected of serious crimes.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine continue to seize illegal arms from the population.
On April 17, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a decree “On the consideration of the amendment to the provision of the Constitution of Ukraine regarding the decentralization of state power,” according to which the process has been initiated for the extensive discussion of amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine.
The Cabinet of Ministers has initiated work on the realization of the concept of reforming local self-government and the territorial organization of power in Ukraine.
The parliamentary coalition has appealed to all political forces to sign the Memorandum of Understanding for the settlement of the situation in Eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine is openly and transparently implementing the Geneva agreement with a continuous sharing of information with the media and the public and in close coordination with the Special OSCE monitoring mission in Ukraine, with the representatives of the Swiss Chairmanship of the OSCE, the USA , the EU, and the Russian Federation.
During April 19-21, three meetings took place in this format, at which the representative of the Russian embassy, in particular, was present. Like other participants at the meeting, he was able to obtain detailed information on the state of implementation by Ukraine of the Geneva agreements.
Ukraine urgently appeals to the Russian side to stop avoiding responsibility, to put an end to constant attempts to undercut the implementation of the Geneva agreement, and to ensure the fulfillment of the obligations it has taken on itself through real actions.
Ukrainian text: http://mfa.gov.ua/ua/press-center/comments/1076-zajava-mzs-ukrajini-shhodo-nevikonannya-rosijeju-zhenevsykih-domovlenostej
Translated by Anna Mostovych
