Russia interested in resolving east Ukraine crisis: Foreign Ministry
Russia has dismissed speculations that its anti-terror campaign in Syria has turned its attention away from the crisis in eastern Ukraine, saying Moscow is in fact the “most interested” side in resolving the standoff between Kiev and pro-Russia forces there.
“We are more interested than others for many reasons in settling the issue and not leaving it in the conflict phase,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said in a televised interview on Saturday.
She added that the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, “which includes a Russian representative, has been working [on the issue] almost daily.”
The Contact Group also includes negotiators from the Ukrainian government and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which monitors the truce deal signed between Kiev and pro-Russians in Minsk, Belarus, in February.
The fighting between the Ukrainian government troops and the pro-Russia forces in eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk has left over 8,000 people dead since April 2014.
Kiev and its Western allies accuse Russia of having a hand in the crisis, an allegation Moscow strongly denies.
Tensions have drastically decreased since the signing of the Minsk deal, under which Ukraine’s warring sides agreed to a ceasefire, the pullout of heavy weapons, and constitutional reforms in the country by the end of the year.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson further rejected the assumption that Russia’s involvement in the fight against terrorist groups in Syria has overshadowed the crisis in Ukraine.
“It is very common concept today that the Syrian events come to the forefront and everyone forgets Ukraine, and it is Russia which is interested in it, first and foremost,” she said.
Russia began its airstrikes against Takfiri terrorists in Syria on September 30 at the request of the Damascus government. Moscow says its air raids are meant to weaken Daesh and other terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc in the Arab country.
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