At the beginning of Wednesday’s talks in Moscow with the UN envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, Lavrov stressed that the Secretariat of the UN is obliged to advocate direct dialogue between the parties to the conflict.

He stressed that, the UN Secretary General never called for fulfilling the Minsk agreements and Security Council resolution 2202, which requires that all problems be resolved between Kiev and the Donetsk and Lugansk autonomous regions.

The Russian Foreign Minister recalled that neither did any Western country pressured Kiev to implement the Minsk package of measures.

Guterres described Moscow’s recognition of the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics as a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and a death blow to the Minsk agreements.

In this regard, Lavrov stated that the UN Secretary General “succumbed to pressure from the West and made statements about what is happening in Ukraine that do not correspond to his status and mandate.”

The leaders of the People’s Republics of Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (PLR) denounced on February 17th the escalation of hostilities along the line of contact using artillery strikes by the Ukrainian military forces. A day later, they declared a general mobilization and called for the evacuation of the residents of the republics to Russia in the face of intensifying fighting.

On February 21st, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved Russia’s recognition of the sovereignty of the DPR and the LPR and signed treaties of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their heads, Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik, respectively.

The Russian authorities indicated that they remain open to diplomacy and dialogue, but will not allow a new bloodshed in Donbass.

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