France and Germany demand Kyiv dialogue with DPR, LPR before local elections - Kelin
MOSCOW. April 3 (Interfax) - France and Germany are beginning to demand that Kyiv begin dialogue with the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics without waiting for local elections in Donbas, Russian envoy to the OSCE Andrei Kelin said.
"The partners [in the Normandy format] are now telling the Kyiv administration quite toughly that they should talk to those who are there [in the DPR and the LPR] now, not wait for elections," Kelin said on a Moscow-Vienna televised video link.
At the same time, the diplomat said, "we currently haven't heard any public statements about that."
Kelin also said representatives of France and Germany admit that Kyiv appears to the trying to avoid the realization of the peace agreements reached in Minsk.
"Our partners in the Normandy format in particular, the ambassadors who are working in the OSCE, are saying, among themselves and in conversations, that Kyiv is trying not only to distort the Minsk agreements, but also to avoid the implementation of some political agreements, specifically, Item 12 and other items relating to elections, constitution and amnesty," Kelin said.