“The initiative of this conflict [in Ukraine] came from the United states. Until they change their decision that the conflict in Ukraine benefits its interests in weakening and isolating Russia, this conflict will last,” Kedmi, a former head of Nativ, the Israeli government agency for promoting immigration from the former Soviet Union, said.
Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Rossiya Segodnya news agency's director general, Dmitry Kiselev, that the United States is trying to contain the relations of all countries with Russia.
Kedmi said that the United States is the only party acting as a conflict initiator, while Russia simply reacts to the provocations. According to Kedmi, the form that the Ukrainian conflict takes in the future, an openly military one or a hidden one, will depend solely on Washington’s decisions.
In April 2014, Kiev forces launched a military operation against independence supporters in eastern Ukraine, who refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new government, which came to power after a coup.
On February 12, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France during a meeting in Minsk agreed on a set of measures aimed at stopping the conflict in Ukraine’s east. The 13-point list of measures stipulates a ceasefire that came into force on February 15, an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange, granting special status to Ukraine's southeast regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and constitutional reforms, among other points.
Kedmi said that the ceasefire is the only point out of all Minsk agreements that has been fully adhered to.
