Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s telephone conversation with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier

On August 14, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke over the phone with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the initiative of the German side. They continued their thorough discussion of the developments in southeastern Ukraine in the context of the implementation of the February 12, 2015 Minsk agreements.

Both ministers voiced serious concern over the continued violation of the ceasefire by the conflicting sides. This leads to an increase in the number of casualties, including civilian losses and the destruction of civilian facilities, and threatens further escalation of the conflict.

Mr Lavrov and Mr Steinmeier voiced their support for the implementation of measures on the demilitarisation of Shirokino in the Normandy format and heavy weapons withdrawal as soon as possible. Mr Lavrov expressed concern over Kiev’s unconstructive approach to the implementation of these measures.

The ministers confirmed the need for the unconditional implementation of the entire package of the aforementioned Minsk agreements, including the issues of constitutional reform, the special status of Donbass and the holding of local elections in Donbass via direct dialogue of Kiev with Donetsk and Lugansk.

 The ministers placed emphasis on the need to continue the talks under the auspices of the Contact Group and its working subgroups and active international monitoring of this process to ensure its strict compliance with the aforementioned Minsk agreements.

August 14, 2015