US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has said that certain signs of separatists' preparing for a new escalation of the confrontation could be currently observed in eastern Ukraine.
Pyatt said in an interview with Radio Svoboda that he hoped that it wouldn’t happen. However, he could see certain signs that Russian separatists were going to renew military confrontation.
He also noted that Russia was conducting an intense training for the army of the so-called “Novorossia.” Russia has also brought their land-to-air missiles to close to the demarcation line on Ukrainian territory. Pyatt noted that militants leaders had been saying in press that there wanted to seize all Donbas territories.
If this is the case, they are forgetting the agreements they signed in Minsk in February, U.S. Ambassador said.
According to him, the Minsk agreements are the correct way to settle the situation, if they are implemented properly. In this regard, Pyatt praised the steps taken by Ukraine to realize the Minsk accords. He also noted that Russia had to fully realize Minsk agreements instead of choosing which provision to follow and which to ignore.
U.S. Ambassador also added that Russia had to free Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko and other prisoners, withdraw heavy weaponry and facilitate the ceasefire regime.
And what’s most important – Russia must renew Ukraine’s control over internationally recognized borders with OSCE monitoring, Pyatt said.
According to him, Ukraine did everything to ensure peace in Donbas – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered the ceasefire, and Ukrainian parliament adopted the law giving a clear signal that Ukraine is ready to give an unprecedented in post-Soviet countries autonomy to Donbas.
