Ukraine won't take a step forward until Russia fulfills commitments on security in Donbas - Poroshenko
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said Ukraine won't take a single step forward until Russia implements commitments in the field of security in Donbas.
"Not a single step forward will be taken until Russia withdraws its troops to a safe distance and carries out measures in the sphere of security," he said, speaking at the 13th annual meeting of the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in Kyiv on Friday.
Poroshenko accused Russia of non-fulfillment of the Minsk Agreements. "Ukraine demonstrates good will and responsibility and makes clear steps to a peaceful settlement. What is Russia doing? Nothing. Null. And it is also trying to shift the responsibility and the blame onto someone else," he said.
"We will not get into the trap of priority of the political aspects of the Minsk Agreements," Poroshenko said.
He said that the roadmap outlines a sequence of steps in the sphere of politics and security.
"Our demand is simple: Russia should ensure a lasting ceasefire in Donbas. What Russian ceasefire, declared without our friends and partners from Germany and France, means we saw in the past 24 hours, when we were promised a ceasefire, but there were over 30 attacks, including mortar and artillery," the president said.
He also said Russia should stop supplying to the Ukrainian territory heavy artillery, tanks, regular troops and munitions. The president also mentioned the need to provide the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) with full access to the entire territory of Donbas and Crimea as another important issue in the settlement of the situation in the eastern part of the country.
Poroshenko also said that 409.3 km of the Ukrainian-Russian border is uncontrolled. "If we close the border, there will be no conflict in Ukraine," he said.
"Take away the occupation troops, take away the weapons. We will settle everything. For this reason, another issue: withdrawal of the Russian troops from the Ukrainian territory," Poroshenko said.
Another issue for conflict settlement, Poroshenko said, is the release of hostages and political prisoners who are now in Russian prisons. "And it's what the Russian side continues to resist, trying to prove that Ukraine is allegedly not fulfilling the political part of the Ukrainian agreements. It's not true. Unlike the Kremlin, Ukraine is fulfilling its obligations," the Ukrainian president said.
"We have been fighting against Russian aggression for 2.5 years, its name is very simple, it's not a civil war, not a conflict in Ukraine, it's not anything else, it's just aggression by the Russian Federation against the sovereign, free and democratic Ukraine and we should only use this term," the Ukrainian president said.
The president said the main achievement in this sphere is deterrence of aggression from further penetrating the Ukrainian territory.
