MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Ukrainian government's economic blockade of the southeastern regions and unwillingness to remove heavy weapons aggravates the situation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.
"Economically, the situation is aggravated by the continuing economic blockade of the Donbas. This list of fiascoes in terms of implementing the Minsk agreements is capped by Kiev's unwillingness to implement the political part of these agreements," Peskov told reporters.
He further stressed that the aggravation stems from the Ukrainian forces' "provocative actions on the contact line, which is exacerbated by the fact that the parties are still unable to remove heavy weapons due to continuing tensions."
"There is no ceasefire, there is no silence regime," Peskov said.
He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin's aide Vladislav Surkov would represent Russia at the next round of Normandy format talks in Minsk, Belarus on Thursday.
