Moscow urges Kiev to stop escalating situation in Donbas

Kiev’s bellicose rhetoric causes serious concern, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday in connection with the aggravation of the situation in southeastern Ukraine.

"Recently there’s been further deterioration of the situation in southeastern Ukraine," the ministry said. "Despite the ceasefire regime declared in accordance with the Minsk agreements, the Ukrainian army has increased the intensity of the artillery bombardments of the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics using all types of weapons." "As a result of this civilians continue to die and sustain injuries of varying severity, residential houses and social infrastructure facilities are destroyed," the ministry noted. "Districts of Donetsk, the Donetsk airport and also the towns of Spartak, Gorlovka, Debaltsevo and others suffer heaviest artillery bombardments."

"The bellicose rhetoric coming from Ukraine, which is encouraged by a number of its foreign patrons, causes major concern and clearly attests to the intention to prepare the public opinion for another attempt to resolve the Ukrainian crisis by force," the ministry said. "Under the circumstances, all responsibility for the negative consequences of such provocative actions will be borne by the current Ukrainian authorities."

"We call on the Ukrainian side to stop escalating tensions and honor the agreements on seeking the political settlement of the crisis in dialogue with representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk, the way it is envisaged in the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements of February 12, 2015," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.