Kiev authorities must implement Minsk agreements in full - Putin

MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin insists that the Kiev authorities should implement the Minsk agreements in full and there is only a political solution to the problem. "We are interested in the full normalization of relations with Ukraine and in our turn we will do everything for that, but the Donbass issue is on the agenda. We expect that the Ukrainian authorities fulfill all the agreements reached in Minsk," Putin said on Thursday during the annual question and answer session officially known as "The Direct Line with Vladimir Putin." Putin noted that first of all working groups need to be set up as part of the Minsk process and the work should be launched in several areas. "This is the political reform, this is economy and this is the border. All this needs to be start being done, this should not be spoken about but needs to be done in practice, and unfortunately, there is still no real wish to solve this by political means," Putin said. "But as I understand, there is no other way than a political solution to the problem. Everyone should come to such an understanding," Putin said. The package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements was adopted on February 12 following talks of the Normandy Four countries (Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany) and meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine. The document envisages the ceasefire in certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions from February 15, withdrawal of heavy weapons from the contact line between Kiev-controlled units and the militias and other measures on long-term political settlement in Donbass. Read more