Southeast Self-Defense Will Reciprocate If Kiev Ends Military Operation, Says Lavrov

The southeastern self-defense forces in Ukraine will reciprocate if Kiev ends the military operation against them, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “An end to the military operation against protesters is the key to the settlement, in our opinion. If this is done the people you call separatists will reciprocate,” he said after informal talks with his German and Polish counterparts in St. Petersburg.

“No one wants the war to continue there. But when warplanes attack the center of the city, as the case in Lugansk, when artillery systems are used to shell residential areas, alongside armored personnel carriers and tanks, it is hard to blame people for volunteering to defend the cities and villages where their children live,” the Russian foreign minister said.

The absence of dialogue between Kiev and Ukraine’s southeastern regions could protract the conflict and lead to a catastrophe, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Ukraine’s southeast does not trust Poroshenko’s humanitarian corridor promise

“Refusing to create conditions for involving representatives of the southeastern regions in a dialogue is tantamount to perpetuating the conflict and relying on military force in the hope of a bloody victory and an opportunity to dictate terms to the east. I hope everyone understands this. It is a way towards a deeper crisis and catastrophe,” he said after talks with his German and Polish counterparts

Moscow welcomes Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko’s idea to organize humanitarian corridors to evacuate refugees from southeastern Ukraine, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“We hear Poroshenko announced the establishment of humanitarian corridors for those who want to leave the Donetsk and Lugansk regions or hide in other regions of Ukraine. We welcome this idea,” he said after informal talks with his German and Polish counterparts.

Lavrov said that refugees from southeastern Ukraine could not leave the area of military operation earlier and were compelled to remain in the fighting zone.

“So these are steps in the right direction, the same as Poroshenko’s declared plan – I mean, the ceasefire and the start of a true dialogue,” he said.

Moscow hopes that a statement made by Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko about humanitarian corridors from the southeast is not a ruse.

Poroshenko orders to open corridor for civilians to leave combat zone in southeastern Ukraine

“I am firmly working on the premise that this is not a cunning, you know, military move to let the forces off the leash,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Sergei Lavrov has invited OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier to visit Rostov-on-Don to meet with refugees from Ukraine.

“We would like very much the OSCE secretary general, who is going to visit Donetsk and Lugansk these days, to visit Russia, in particular the Rostov region, to meet with women and children who are saving themselves from what is happening in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions,” Lavrov stated.

There are around 30,000 Ukrainian refugees in the Rostov region, he added.

Russia will not introduce sanctions against Ukraine, if Kiev signs an association agreement with the European Union, Foreign Minister Lavrov said.

“We are not obsessed with ‘the sanction itch’ typical of some of our partners. We will not introduce sanctions against Ukraine and we will get back to a normal, most-favored nations trade regime,” he said, Interfax reports.

“Privileges will be taken away, because if they are saved the CIS free trade agreement will be violated. That’s all,” Lavrov said.

He noted, though, that the final choice is to be made by the Ukrainian people.

“Concerning Ukraine’s relations with the EU, we have no objections to this process. We cannot prohibit anyone to broaden economic cooperation with international organizations. The only thing we would like to detail is that the Ukrainian people must make their choice on their own. They themselves must decide whether or not the association and free trade agreements should be signed with the EU. If their decision is positive, consequences will arise for the obligations which Ukraine assumed a long time ago under the CIS free trade agreement,” Lavrov said.

“When we say that Ukraine must decide, we mean that we will respect any choice it makes. By contrast, some of the EU members demand that Ukraine’s choice in favor of European integration alone must be respected. No choice has been made so far. The Ukrainian leadership has yet to make the decision. This choice should be preferably made when all government bodies become legitimate and enjoy popular support, not nervously and on the run, as if in fear of missing a deadline,” Lavrov said.

“More trust should be given to the Ukrainian people. We are all for this,” he said.

Voice Of Russia

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