Russia, U.S. believe separating line in Ukraine must be endorsed as soon as possible - Lavrov
BEIJING. Nov 8 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have agreed to persuade the Ukrainian leadership to start implementing the Geneva agreements and settle the conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine in a political way, Lavrov said.
"John Kerry and I agreed today that this goal is still relevant, or perhaps it is even more relevant than it was in April, when there was a talk about immediately starting this process. We'll try to persuade the Ukrainian leadership to start implementing this commitment," Lavrov said following negotiations with Kerry on the sidelines of an APEC summit in Beijing on Saturday.
Lavrov said Kerry and he had also talked about the implementation of the Minsk agreements reached between Kyiv and the leaders of the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk republics. "These agreements were signed, and concrete steps and timeframes of each of these agreements had been coordinated. But unfortunately, the ceasefire is not being fully observed, and skirmishes are continuing," Lavrov sid.
"We deem it necessary to complete the endorsement of the line separating the sides as soon as possible, so as to be able to properly control the observance of the ceasefire and the truce terms," he added.
