UKRAINE-CRISIS/EAST Kiev and rebels accuse each other of Minsk agreement violations

Record ID: 144329

  • Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/EAST Kiev and rebels accuse each other of Minsk agreement violations
  • Date: 12th August 2015
  • Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (AUGUST 12, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY BUILDING UKRAINIAN FLAG WAVING ON TOP OF BUILDING BELARUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, VLADIMIR MAKEI, AND UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, PAVLO KLIMKININ, AT NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, PAVLO KLIMKIN, SAYING: "The latest examples of escalation of the situation were a deliberate and clearly planned operation both in Shyrokyne and Starohnativka. All these cases are examples of how the Russian side along with Donetsk and Luhansk tries to derail the implementation of the Minsk agreements." SIGN READING (English): "MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF UKRAINE" VARIOUS OF MAKEI AND KLIMKIN SHAKING HANDS AND LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE MOSCOW, UKRAINE (AUGUST 12, 2015) (REUTERS) PEOPLE IN FRONT OF TASS NEWS AGENCY REBEL LEADERS FROM DONETSK AND LUHANSK TAKING SEATS AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ENVOY OF SELF-PROCLAIMED DONETSK PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC AT PEACE TALKS IN MINSK, DENIS PUSHILIN, SAYING: "Essentially Kiev has not implemented a single point of the (Minsk) agreements, has not implemented fully. Unfortunately this has become the most complicated point in the implementation of the Minsk agreements on the part of Kiev. We unfortunately can see the imitation of the implementation the Minsk agreements on the part of Kiev, unfortunately we can see provocations on the part of Kiev." CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) SELF-PROCLAIMED DONETSK PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC REPRESENTATIVE IN MINSK CONTACT GROUP, DENIS PUSHILIN, SAYING: "Kiev most likely also understands that if the Minsk process will be halted as it is - this document without any alternatives - this means war, and as it was correctly mentioned, the war not only in Donbass, but this may be a big war." MEDIA DELEGATES LEAVING CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 27th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7CXYLQDM2EWAD4CD5L4DB7M4M
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian separatists accused each other on Wednesday (August 12) of violating Minsk agreements and breaking the truce, as one of the rebel leaders warned of a "big war" spanning new territories if the ceasefire fails.
    Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Pavlo Klimkin, accused Moscow and the separatists of violence escalation.
    "The latest examples of escalation of the situation were a deliberate and clearly planned operation both in Shyrokyne and Starohnativka. All these cases are examples of how the Russian side along with Donetsk and Luhansk tries to derail the implementation of the Minsk agreements," Klimkin said, at news conference with his Belarussian counterpart, Vladimir Makei.
    The Ukrainian military said on Monday (August 10) 400 rebel fighters supported by tanks had attacked government forces around the village of Starohnativka, 50 km (30 miles) north of the Kiev-held port city of Mariupol. The rebels denied attacking government troops.
    Control of Mariupol could help the rebels form a corridor to the Crimea peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine last year.
    A ceasefire deal, signed in mid-February, has failed to stem the violence in the eastern conflict zone. Both sides regularly accuse the other of violating the terms of the peace agreement and casualties are reported almost daily.
    The representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, speaking in Moscow, said the Ukrainian government failed to fulfil the commitments entirely.
    "Essentially Kiev has not implemented a single point of the (Minsk) agreements, has not implemented fully. Unfortunately this has become the most complicated point in the implementation of the Minsk agreements on the part of Kiev. We unfortunately can see the imitation of the implementation the Minsk agreements on the part of Kiev, unfortunately we can see provocations on the part of Kiev," Pushilin said during a joint news conference with Luhansk People's Republic representative, Vladislav Deinego, in Moscow.
    Pushilin also said that if the peace process fails, the conflict can grow into a full-scale war.
    "Kiev most likely also understands that if the Minsk process will be halted as it is - this document without any alternatives - this means war, and as it was correctly mentioned, the war not only in Donbass, but this may be a big war," the representative of Donetsk said.
    More than 6,500 people have been killed since fighting between Ukrainian troops and rebels seeking independence from Kiev erupted in April 2014, according to U.N. estimates.
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