Russia, US to continue consultations on defusing Ukrainian crisis

Russia and the United States will continue consultations at the level of deputy foreign ministers to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told TASS on Thursday following meeting with Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland in Zurich, Switzerland.

"That was our third meeting within the framework of the consultations, which we are holding on behalf of the presidents of the two countries," Karasin said. "The meeting was held in an open, constructive atmosphere. The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to a common goal — to contribute to the greatest possible extent to the resolution of the issues connected with the implementation of the Minsk agreements."
According to Karasin, all provisions of the Minsk agreements have been worked through during the consultations. "The implementation of each of them needs fresh impetus, and we intend to continue working in all existing formats, including the Contact Group and the Normandy Four", the Russian diplomat said. "It’s necessary to enforce the Minsk agreements in all areas — security, economy, humanitarian and political, which now deals with the constitutional reform and the preparations for the elections."

Concerning the feasibility of creating new formats to resolve the Ukrainian crisis involving the United States, Karasin noted that "the main task was now not to search for new formats, but use the existing ones to consolidate contacts and make progress in implementing the agreements that had been reached." He described as "rather useful" the current mechanism of consultations at the level of deputy foreign ministers created on behalf of the presidents of Russia and the United States.

"We have agreed to hold the next meeting before the end of this month," Karasin said. "The time and place are yet to be agreed."