Tillerson called the situation in Ukraine is an obstacle to improving relations between the US and Russia
The situation in Ukraine will remain an obstacle to the improvement of relations between the United States and Russia, while Moscow does not comply fully with the Minsk agreement.
This was stated by U.S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson at a joint press conference with Minister of foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.
“Until then, until you reach all the progress according to the Minsk agreements, the situation in Ukraine will remain an obstacle to improved relations between the U.S. and Russia,” he said.
According to Tillerson, Russia can make progress in the implementation of the Minsk way of de-escalation of violence and take measures for discharging the separatists heavy weapons to the OSCE observers could do their part.
Lavrov in turn said that during the talks with his American counterpart and they discussed the conflict in Ukraine and come to a common position that “the Minsk agreement in 2015 should be implemented.”
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Detailed and Frank talks: Lavrov commented on the meeting with Tillerson
The head of the Russian foreign Ministry said that Moscow is ready to discuss with Washington the way of implementation of the Minsk agreements in addition to the “Normandy format”.
“We have felt the interest of the current administration to continue bilateral contacts on this topic to help find practical ways to implement fully the Minsk agreements. We will such efforts to welcome, we are ready for them,” said Lavrov.
Recall, on the eve President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko held telephone consultations with U.S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson. During a conversation Tillerson assured that the United States supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine and insist on the implementation of the Minsk agreements, in particular the ceasefire. According to Tillerson, “Washington will not allow any batch of the agreements on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine and Syria.”