UN and Europeans: Russia obstructs settlement E. Ukraine; it must withdraw its forces

The meeting was held at the request of Moscow on the occasion of the anniversary of the Minsk Agreement 2 on Thursday, during the meeting, the West accused Russia of obstructing the settlement, which was denied by Moscow, according to the agency, "Agence France Presse."

During the meeting, the representative of the United States, Rodney Hunter, said: "Russia must immediately stop its aggression in eastern Ukraine, and end its occupation of the Crimean peninsula," adding, "We call on Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine and to stop supporting its proxies and other armed groups, and to implement all obligations it undertook under the Minsk Agreements, in February 2014 and 2015. "

In a joint statement, members of the European Council - Estonia, France, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom - as well as Germany, which with Paris sponsored the Minsk agreements between Moscow and Kiev, expressed strong condemnation of "the continued destabilization of some areas in Donetsk and Luhansk" in eastern Ukraine.

The statement stated that by using force against Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, Russia is clearly violating basic principles of international law.

The Europeans continued, "We call once again on Russia to immediately stop fueling the conflict by providing financial and military support to the armed formations that support it, and we remain deeply concerned about the presence of Russian military equipment and personnel in areas outside the control of the Ukrainian government."

In addition, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, rejected Western criticisms, stressing that Ukraine does not implement the procedures of the Minsk agreements. He said that Kiev ", with the support of its protectors, Germany and France, pretends to implement the agreements, but it shows complete indifference towards the Donbas residents."

J.O