Russian Envoy to Ottawa Stepanov on Visit to Foreign Ministry: It Was Political Demarche

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russian Ambassador in Ottawa Oleg Stepanov told Sputnik that his meeting with Canada's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Marta Morgan was a "political demarche."

Earlier on Tuesday, Stepanov was invited to the Global Affairs Canada for a meeting with Morgan following Moscow’s decision to recognise the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics.

"It was a political demarche - a political presentation from Canada's First Deputy Foreign Minister Marta Morgan," Stepanov said. "They made a presentation to me, in fact, laying out the position of the Canadian government along the lines as it was was already addressed yesterday in the statements by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly."

Stepanov went on to say that he stated Russia’s position and its perception of the situation.

"In particular, I emphasized that - when they said that Russia's yesterday steps meant, among other things, a violation of international law - I said that a violation of international law is, first of all, Ukraine's failure to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2202 of 2015, which approved the Minsk Package of Measures," he said. "The resolutions of the UN Security Council are binding for all states in the world."

Stepanov said it is regrettable that Ukraine did not comply with them during all seven years and a number of countries, especially Western countries that have a special interest in what is happening inside and around Ukraine, could not force it to do so.

"The situation that we are seeing today is the result of Kiev's refusal to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk package of measures," he said.

The Russian ambassador noted that the meeting took only 15 minutes.

"I told them that Russia is not looking for any confrontation or rivalry with Canada, we look at it as an Arctic neighbour," he said.

Stepanov also noted that while the issue of sanctions was not directly raised, it was noted that the Canadian government felt compelled to take certain measures in coordination with its allies.

Soon after Stepanov’s visit to the the Foreign Ministry, Ottawa announced a new round of sanctions against Russia.

On Monday, President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Under the new treaties, Moscow will ensure the security of the two Russian-speaking republics.

Russia’s decision came after the situation on the line of contact between Ukraine and the breakaway republics significantly worsened.