Russia/Ukraine: Moscow accuses Kyiv of fanning flames ahead of G7 summit

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Publication Date 8 June 2015
Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russia/Ukraine: Moscow accuses Kyiv of fanning flames ahead of G7 summit, 8 June 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/558bc4f015.html [accessed 17 September 2023]
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June 08, 2015

By RFE/RL

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Kyiv of trying to "escalate" the conflict in the country's east ahead of a Group of Seven (G7) summit of economic powers.

Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow on June 8, "It is a kind of a joker card in the hands of the Ukrainian authorities – We, Ukrainians, will disrupt the implementation of the Minsk agreements, but it will be Russia who will suffer because no one will lift sanctions against Russia."

On the first day of the G7 summit in Germany on June 7, the U.S. and German leaders said sanctions on Russia must stay until it implements the deal to end fighting in Ukraine's east.

"By adopting a stance where sanctions against Russia are linked to the implementation of the Minsk agreements by Russia only," Lavrov said, "our Western partners have become hostages of the current Ukrainian government."

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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