Updated 6:32 p.m. Moscow Time
GENEVA, October 3 (RIA Novosti) – There is no alternative to peaceful settlement of the civil conflict in Ukraine and agreements made in Minsk last month have laid a basis for it, said Sergei Naryshkin, the speaker of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament said Friday.
“Regardless of what happens now, one thing is evident: there is no alternative to a political solution of the crisis in Ukraine. And the Minsk agreements have already laid a basis for dialogue,” he said.
Speaking on the margins of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly’s meeting in Geneva, Naryshkin added that members of European nations' parliaments could contribute to the reconciliation of the Ukrainian crisis.
On September 5, the Contact Group on Ukraine, comprising the representatives of Russia, pro-independence Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, Ukraine and the OSCE, met in the Belarusian capital Minsk. The talks resulted in a ceasefire agreement between Kiev and independence supporters, which entered into force the same day.
During another meeting of the group, held on September 19, the parties agreed on a memorandum, specifying the implementation of the truce. According to the document, the sides are to create a 30-kilometer (18-mile) buffer zone, withdraw all heavy weapons from residential areas and allow the OSCE to maintain a monitoring mission in the conflict zone. Both sides have reported violations of the ceasefire; however, the OSCE stated it was mostly respected.
