19:40 18.12.2017

Moscow trying to force Ukraine into talks with militants - Minister Klimkin

2 min read
Moscow trying to force Ukraine into talks with militants - Minister Klimkin

The Russian side's efforts are aimed at forcing the Ukrainian side into dialogue with representatives of illegal armed formations controlled by the Russian Federation, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said.

"All the Kremlin's actions are aimed at initiating negotiations with their puppets. But at the puppet theater, it is possible to speak with the puppeteers only. Perhaps, [The Adventures of] Pinocchio has turned to be Moscow's manual," Klimkin wrote on Twitter on Monday, December 18.

As was previously reported, Russian officers from the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) earlier on Monday left the territory of the self-proclaimed republics in Donbas and went to the Ukrainian-controlled town of Soledar, planning to later depart for Russia.

Earlier on that day, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Russian military at the JCCC were leaving Ukraine on December 19 because Kyiv had been impeding their work.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in turn said it was unhappy with Russia's unilateral decision to withdraw Russian military servicemen from the JCCC, saying it looked like an act of "provocation that considerable undermines the Minsk agreements and is an attempt to disclaim any responsibility as a party to the conflict for the consequences of armed aggression against our state."

The JCCC's Ukrainian members will continue their work, but they will be relocated from the occupied areas in Donbas for security reasons.

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