MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The supply of arms from outside Ukraine would not help resolve the crisis in the country and would complicate the implementation of the Minsk agreements, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
Speaking at the World Affairs Councils of America in Washington, DC on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called on the West to provide military assistance to Ukraine.
"We certainly do not interfere in the relations between Kiev and Washington in any way, it concerns the internal affairs of the two countries. Of course, delivery of lethal weapons to Ukraine will by no means contribute to the settlement of the internal Ukrainian crisis and the implementation of the Minsk agreements, taking into account the general increase in provocations on the line of contact. And it is unlikely [that arms deliveries will] contribute to de facto strengthening Ukraine's security," Peskov told journalists.
Kiev launched a military operation against independence-seeking militias in southeastern Ukraine in April 2014. The confrontation has claimed more than 9,000 lives, according to UN estimates.
In February 2015, Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine worked out the second Minsk ceasefire agreement to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
