At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is calling on both sides to adhere to the Minsk ceasefire agreements.

 

"The West must encourage this process, but not just recklessly support everything that the party of war in Kiev does, closing their eyes to outrageous¹ violations² of human rights, outright³ lawlessness and war crimes. The efforts to lay the blame for the Ukrainian crisis on Russia are unproductive."

 

The Ukrainian government has rejected direct negotiations⁴ with the rebels.

 

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenuk.

 

"This is the common position of the head of State and head of the government: the best and most effective format⁵ of negotiations is the Geneva format. Russia is trying to abandon this format by every means it can."

 

Ukrainian authorities have long-accused Russia of backing the separatists in the southeast regions of Donestk and Luhansk.

 

Russia has denied its involvement.

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