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MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. Ukrainian authorities must strictly abide by the Minsk accords, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday in a phone call initiated by the German side.
“The need for the Kiev authorities to scrupulously implement the 2015 Minsk package has also been stressed,” the Kremlin said in a statement issued following the phone call. The statement also adds that the leaders have agreed to maintain personal contacts.
The situation in Donbass worsened at the end of February as shelling and gunfire, including the use of mortars and grenade launchers, were reported almost daily in the region. The parties blamed each other for these developments.
Merkel had a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on July 12 where the two leaders discussed the implementation of the Minsk Accord, among other topics. During a joint briefing with Zelensky, Merkel stressed that the parties “have not yet made sufficient progress” in implementing the agreements. The Chancellor underlined that Germany will continue to make efforts to continue to implement the Minsk agreements and to make progress, stressing however that “it will be difficult”.
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