MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Kiev intends to delay implementing the Minsk agreements for a Ukrainian settlement, particularly political provisions on constitutional reform and local elections, Russia’s permanent envoy to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Alexander Lukashevich, said Friday.
"The latest events confirm that Kiev will do everything to delay the implementation of the [Minsk accords], in particular the political part envisaging the agreement with Donbas authorities on modalities of local elections, the elements of the constitutional reform relating to Donbas," Lukashevich said in a statement, as quoted by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Minsk agreements are a set of measures developed by Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany to facilitate the process of Ukraine’s reconciliation after Kiev launched a military operation against local militias in eastern Ukraine in April 2014.
The country's breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk agreed to postpone their local elections until 2016. Before elections in those regions can take place, Ukraine authorities must fulfill all the Minsk agreement obligations.
