Ukraine Demands Russia’s Explanations due to Statements on Donbass

The Ukrainian diplomat called on the Russian ambassador to the OSCE to clarify whether yesterday’s statement by Gryzlov means that Russia intends to withdraw from the Minsk agreements. The Russian Federation should explain the statements of the representative of the Russian Federation in the Trilateral Contact Group (TAG) Boris Gryzlov. On Friday, July 10, Yevhen Tsymbaliuk, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to International Organizations in Vienna, said. “As for the Russian propaganda narrative about the internal nature of the conflict in the Donbass, it would be very interesting to hear clear explanations from the Russian representative about yesterday’s statements by Gryzlov, who said that two more states have been created in Ukraine today,” he said. The Ukrainian diplomat called on the Russian ambassador to the OSCE, Alexander Lukashevich, to clarify whether yesterday’s statement by Gryzlov means that Russia intends to withdraw from the Minsk agreements. “Or is Russia planning to recognize these occupied areas?” he stressed. The diplomat noted that Ukraine has repeatedly emphasized its principled position that it is ready to talk with its citizens living in uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but not with those who have Russian passports and do not have the legal right to represent the local Ukrainian population. According to Tsymbaliuk, such a dialogue is conducted, in particular, through the inclusion of representatives of the uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, previously forced to leave these territories, as advisers to the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG. As reported, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov said that the Russian side shows its readiness for “rapprochement” in the negotiations on Donbass.