MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2020) Kiev has refused to agree to a full disengagement of forces in the conflict-torn southeast of Ukraine (Donbas) at the advice of the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"It is no big secret, we know that such a stance was taken by the Ukrainian delegation at the Normandy summit in Paris at the request of Washington, which does not really want the Minsk agreements to be implemented, does not want for the line of contact to be safe on both sides," Lavrov said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.
The minister added that it is in the interests of Washington, particularly in terms of its geopolitical views of the post-Soviet space, to maintain the protracted internal conflict in Ukraine in a "certain controlled phase."
In December, the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine met in Paris in the Normandy format after a three-year hiatus to discuss the settlement of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine, which started back in 2014.
The summit adopted a joint communique that outlines the next steps in the peace process, including an "all for all" exchange of conflict-related detainees and the implementation of a ceasefire, as well as the coordination of certain new areas for the disengagement of forces.
