Moscow Slams Spanish Diplomat Over Claims of Minsk Agreements' Failure

© REUTERS / Vasily FedosenkoRussia's President Vladimir Putin (L, front), Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko (2nd R, front), Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel (R, front) and France's President Francois Hollande (2nd L, front) walk during peace talks in Minsk
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L, front), Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko (2nd R, front), Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel (R, front) and France's President Francois Hollande (2nd L, front) walk during peace talks in Minsk - Sputnik International
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Spanish Ambassador to Ukraine Gerardo Bugallo Ottone's statements claiming that the set of ceasefire agreements in eastern Ukraine are impossible to implement are unacceptable, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On March 22, Bugallo said at a press conference in Kiev that the Minsk 2 Agreements were impossible to implement since they were concluded when people were engaged in fierce fighting in Donbas, but noted that there is currently no other tool except for the accords to settle the crisis in Ukraine’s eastern region.

"We believe that by making categorical and biased statements, the Spanish representative in Kiev not only went far beyond his official status, but also contradicted with the official position of his own country's leadership," the ministry said.

"Words on the alleged impossibility to implement the Minsk package of measures are absolutely unacceptable," the ministry said in commentary on its website.

US soldier, left, instructs a Ukrainian soldier during joint training exercises on the military base in the Lviv region. - Sputnik International
Lavrov: Europe Should Make Kiev Implement Minsk Accords
The Donbass conflict erupted in April 2014 as a local counter-reaction to the West-sponsored Maidan coup in Kiev that had toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in February. Residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions held independence referendums and proclaimed the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Kiev has since been conducting a military operation, encountering stiff local resistance.

In February 2015, Kiev forces and Donbass independence supporters signed a peace agreement in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The deal stipulates a full ceasefire, weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in Donbass, as well as constitutional reforms that would give a special status to the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Despite the agreement brokered by the Normandy Four states, the ceasefire regime is regularly violated, with both sides accusing each other of multiple breaches, undermining the terms of the accord.

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