12 October 2021, Tuesday, 19:51 183

Ukraine And EU Stress Russia's Responsibility As Party To Donbas Conflict – Ukraine-EU Summit Joint Statement

Редактор: Daria Zubkova

Ukraine and the European Union have stressed the importance of full implementation of the Minsk Agreements, underlining Russia's responsibility as a party to the conflict in Donbas.

This is stated in the joint statement that was issued at the end of the 23rd Ukraine-European Union summit in Kyiv, which was published on the Ukrainian presidential website, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.

“We reaffirmed our full support to the endeavors of the Normandy format, the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), and the OSCE, including its Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine. We stressed the importance of fully implementing the measures agreed at the Normandy Summit in Paris in December 2019, as well as the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements, underlining Russia's responsibility as a party to the conflict," the joint statement said.

The participants in the summit also praised the constructive approach of Ukraine in the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group and called on Russia to reciprocate and to engage in discussions within these conflict resolution formats in good faith.

The joint statement condemned the violation of the ceasefire by Russia-backed armed formations and called on Russia to fully assume its responsibility in this regard and to use its considerable influence over the armed formations it backs to re-establish a comprehensive ceasefire, meet the Minsk commitments in full, and ensure free and unhindered access of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to the non-government-controlled areas of Ukraine, including the areas along the Ukrainian-Russian state border, in accordance with its mandate.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of the European Council Charles Michel, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen attended the 23rd Ukraine-EU summit in Kyiv on Tuesday and approved a joint statement.