MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th October, 2021) France is concerned about the stepped-up pace of military operations in eastern Ukraine and Kiev's use of the Turkish Bayraktar remotely-piloted assault aircraft, the French Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.
"We are concerned about the increased intensity of hostilities in eastern Ukraine, including the increasingly frequent use of heavy weapons, prohibited by the Minsk agreements, and the announcement by the Ukrainian army staff of the use of an armed drone of the Bayraktar type," the spokesperson said at the briefing.
The deployment of the attack drones contradicts the measures to support the armistice regime that came into force on July 27, 2020, the spokesperson said.
"France, alongside Germany, is continuing its efforts within the Normandy format with a view to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, which constitute the only approved basis for a lasting resolution of the conflict in the Donbas. We call on the parties to restrain and de-escalate," the French Foreign Ministry said.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian military used the combat drone Bayraktar for the first time in Donbas. Deploying combat aircraft and remotely-piloted drones along the entire line of contact are prohibited by the Minsk agreements.
