Kuleba in Madrid recalls importance of maintaining sanctions pressure on Russia

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this at a joint press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain Arancha González in Madrid on September 10, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“Ukraine will make every effort to resolve the conflict in the east of the country by peaceful diplomatic means. We abide by the Minsk agreements and the Normandy format and expect that the European Union will maintain the policy of sanctions pressure on Russia in order to fulfill the Minsk agreements. The path to peace is very difficult, as there are many provocations and challenges, but we will move forward to bring peace to Ukraine and de-occupy the country's territory,” Kuleba said.

In this context, he noted that a meeting of advisers to the leaders of the Normandy format will take place in the coming days, where the next steps towards resolving the conflict will be discussed.

Kuleba also stressed that Ukraine is looking forward to the meeting of the Normandy Four leaders and hopes that Russia will also show political will to hold it and take the necessary steps for the leaders of the four countries to achieve concrete results.

“But we must all clearly understand that today the key to peace in Ukraine is in Moscow. If Moscow agrees to withdraw its troops, de-occupy our territory, then we will quickly re-integrate these territories and restore normal life there," the foreign minister summed up.

As Ukrinform reported, the Trilateral Contact Group at a meeting on September 9 agreed to make a joint visit to the area of Shumy with the participation of an OSCE representative, as well as representatives of certain areas of Donetsk region (ORDO).

On September 10, the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG, Leonid Kravchuk, addressed a letter to the OSCE representative in the Trilateral Contact Group with a request to postpone today's meeting near the village of Shumy. The document states that the Russian side and its invited representatives from ORDO put forward new requirements that were not discussed during an extraordinary video conference of the Trilateral Contact Group on September 9.

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