US Ambassador to Ukraine: Russia doesn't fulfill important clauses of Minsk agreements

Moscow escalates the crisis in Donbas instead of implementing the agreements.

US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt says Russia does not fulfill the most important clauses of the Minsk agreements, 24 TV reports.

According to Pyatt, Russia has failed to implement the most important provisions of the Minsk agreements: restoring control over the border, OSCE monitoring, the release of political prisoners and hostages, the withdraw of all Russian troops, mercenaries and hardware.

According to the ambassador instead of fulfilling the Minsk agreements, Russia has done exactly the opposite by sending additional tanks and hardware to Ukraine and escalating the crisis.

He expressed a hope that Russia would implement the agreements.

The UK's Minister for Europe David Lidington stressed earlier that Russia's attempts to deny the presence of its troops in Donbas were useless. He says the UK has satellite pictures, photos from people on the site, reports of the the OSCE mission and eyewitness accounts, so Russia's attempts to deny it do not have any credibility.