MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd February, 2021) Russia hopes that the Swedish OSCE chairmanship will promote a direct dialogue between the Ukrainian government and the breakaway region of Donbas, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.
He spoke at a joint presser with his Swedish counterpart, Ann Linde, who is currently on a visit to Moscow as the OSCE chairperson-in-office. According to Lavrov, the sides discussed the situation in Ukraine, stressing that there is no alternative to the Minsk peace accords.
"We expect that the current chairmanship-in-office will facilitate direct dialogue between Kiev and Donbas in the Contact Group and ensure impartiality of the work of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine," Lavrov added.
Russia, he went on, has informed Sweden that "any attempts to cover up Kiev, which is stubbornly unwilling to implement the international commitments it has undertaken, will be counter-productive."
"We hope that in the uneasy situation that has developed in Europe, the Swedish OSCE chairmanship will be guided by a balanced and objective approach and will help restore an atmosphere of trust in our common space. And we will certainly contribute to this approach in every way we can," Lavrov stated.
The minister noted that Russia had forwarded Sweden a corresponding non-paper proposing how to launch such dialogue. He expressed hope that Stockholm would pay due attention to this.
